Fat Tuesday(46)

He opened the drawer, hoping to discover a personal telephone directory, a journal, a bankbook. But Pinkie was too smart to have anything in his nightstand drawer except a bottle of Maalox, a leaky ballpoint pen, another pair of glasses, and a notepad on which nothing was written.

On Mrs. Duvall's nightstand was a rosary, a bowl of potpourri, and a crystal carafe of water with the small, inverted glass capping it.

In the drawer, nothing except a box of note cards. But there was no address book. Whom did she write to?

How long had he been out of the solarium? Suspiciously long to be taking a leak? What if, during a commercial, Errol poked his head into the solarium and, seeing only one priest, asked where the other one was?

Get on with it.

He crossed into Mrs. Duvall's dressing room. The maid hadn't been here, not since Mrs. Duvall had dressed for her meeting with Father Gregory and Father Kevin. A blouse was lying across the satin vanity stool.

Apparently it had been considered, but discarded in favor of the one she was wearing. Burke picked it up, rubbed the fabric between his fingers.

Silk. He replaced it across the stool, exactly as it had been.

Noticing the seam in the mirrored wall above the countertop, he depressed it, and a section of mirror swung out, revealing a medicine cabinet. Toothbrush and toothpaste, Visine, Stresstabs, Q-Tips, tampons, aspirin, oral contraceptives. No other prescriptions.

He closed the cabinet and was about to turn away when he noticed that the marble surface of her dressing table was lightly dusted with talcum.

The body powder was stored in a round crystal box topped with an ornate silver lid. Beside it was a luxurious lamb's-wool powder puff, which he picked up and sniffed. The fragrance was unmistakably familiar.

He brushed his fingertips across the fuzzy surface of the powder puff, conjuring up tantalizing speculations as to the exotic spots it had last visited.

What the f*ck are you doing, Basile? Get the hell out of here.

He returned the puff to its place beside the crystal box and left the dressing room as though the devil were at his heels. At the bedroom door he paused to listen. Hearing nothing, he eased open the door and stepped into the hallway.

He was midway down the stairs when Errol appeared in the entry.

Errol, apparently on his way to use the bathroom, stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Father Kevin loping down the stairs. Burke smiled disarmingly."If you're going to the can, you might need this."

He tossed the bodyguard a roll of toilet tissue.

Errol, still confused, fumbled it before catching it against his chest. "The powder room was out of paper, so I had to use the one at the top of the stairs."

Errol pushed open the door to the powder room and looked at the toilet tissue spool, from which Burke had removed the roll before going upstairs. He had carried it right back down again, but it appeared that he'd brought it from the other bathroom."I thought, long as I was up there, I'd replace the roll down here. Never know when someone might need it." He grinned, man to man."Of course, it depends on what you have to do." "Yeah," Errol said with uncertainty."Thanks."

Burke started off in the direction of the solarium before he came back around, as though an idea had just occurred to him."Say, if Mr. and Mrs. Duvall become involved in Jenny's House, maybe you'd like to participate, too. Helping out with the boys, organizing games, something like that."

"I don't think so. Mr. Duvall keeps me pretty busy."

"Well, it was just a thought." Burke turned away and this time didn't stop until he was back in the solarium, where Gregory was still talking.

"Father Kevin and I think it's essential that the children who stay at Jenny's House are given chores. That will make it seem less like a charitable facility and more like a normal home."

"Excellent idea, Father."

Gregory glanced at Burke with evident relief."Father Kevin and I agree that giving the children a sense of responsibility, and praising even the smallest achievement, is the first step toward reversing the negative effects they've suffered thus far and building self-esteem."

Mrs. Duvall turned to Burke for confirmation. He nodded in agreement, but at that moment he would have agreed to the theory that the moon was cream cheese. It was damn near impossible to maintain a godly expression so soon after handling her body powder puff. He tried to keep his gaze above the cross hanging from the chain around her neck, but it was a battle royal of wills between his id and his ego.

"God has blessed this visit, Father Kevin." Gregory held up a check for ten thousand dollars made out to Jenny's House.

"You're very generous, Mrs. Duvall. God bless you."

"God bless your mission, Father Kevin."

Burke stood."We shouldn't take up any more of your time."

"Of course, we wouldn't want to do that." Gregory also came to his feet."Once I start talking about Jenny's House, there's no stopping me."

"I've enjoyed it," she said."Can't you stay until my husband gets home? I know he would like to meet you."

"No, no, we've got to run," Gregory said."More calls to make.

Some other time, perhaps."

Burke passed her a business card."I'm sure you'd like to hear progress reports. Please call anytime."

"Thank you, I will."