The policeman muttered a greeting and exited the building down to his waiting car. Brenda stopped on the front balcony to watch him drive off then she went inside and slowly made her way up the stairs to her apartment. Geena looked up from a magazine and smiled.

"Hi, everything okay?" Brenda went to the kitchen and unpacked the few groceries she'd gone out to buy.

"Fine. The police were here."

"Here?"

"No, downstairs. At Regina's, I think."

"Wonder what they wanted there."

"I don't know." She set the magazine aside and stood up, stretching her arms way above her head.

"You should have come with me." Brenda said, taking in the glimpse of bare stomach during the stretch. "You can't sit in here all day doing nothing."

"Look, I'll get out your hair. I'll find a hotel—"

"No! I didn't mean that. I meant for your own good. What about your business?" She handed Geena a slice of orange and sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning back against the headboard.

"I made a couple of calls, people I got to like. I didn't want to leave them hanging." She sat on the end of the bed. "Seems that word about Gary and I has already seeped out." She sucked on the slice of orange thoughtfully.

"That must have been pretty rough." Brenda wiped her fingers on her sweats and tipped forward to lean on her elbows, legs still crossed.

"What?"

"Finding Wally like that. I know I would have freaked—well you did, didn't you? That scream went right through the bunch of us."

"It was horrible." Geena bit into the slice and chewed slowly.

Brenda plucked at the bedspread with her finger and thumb. "Uh, Geena, what were you doing upstairs that night?"

"Like I told the police." She popped the rest of the orange into her mouth and leaned back on her elbows, legs straight out, doing tiny scissor movements. "I came in to speak to Wally, apologize for the argument and get him to come back outside."

"But—"

"I hit him pretty hard you know."

Brenda stared.

"His face was as red a beet." She rolled over on her stomach, causing Brenda to move back a bit. "I felt sorry for Cheryl and I- well I just thought the whole thing had been unnecessary."

"You were really lucky." Brenda said after a moment.

"Why?"

"That whoever did that to Wally wasn't still there when you came up. You didn't see anything did you, Geena."

"Like who?" Geena turned her head to face the other woman.

"Gary maybe?"

They stared at one another barely breathing. Brenda sat perfectly still, searching the hazel eyes for a hint of anything, moving gradually down Geena's face to her lips and further to her—.

"You think I'm covering up for Gary? That's why you think I'm here with you?" Geena flipped her hair out of her eye and sat up, leaning on one arm. "No Brenda. I didn't see anything or anyone except- except Wally." Her voice broke and her eyes brimmed.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Geen." She reached out and caressed her shaking shoulder. "I didn't mean anything, I—" Geena sobbed aloud and flung her arms around Brenda's waist, her body jumping from laboured gasps for breath. "There, there. Relax Geen, let it out and just relax."

Brenda shifted to a more satisfactory position.

****************

The weather changed suddenly and what had been delightfully mild and sunny suddenly twisted into dull, damp and cold. The TV weatherman blamed it on remnants of a gulf hurricane that was moving up the east coast. Gusting winds slapped branches around and spilled huge puddles at a number of intersections. Pedestrians ran the gauntlet of speeding traffic through the rain soaked streets. Two weeks had passed since the murder in Garbo Towers and the residents were still feeling unsettled.

The police kept returning with different sets of questions leaving with fewer answers. Millicent had finally been given permission to have professionals come in and clean Wally's apartment, pack up his belongings and ship everything the police didn't want to storage.

Wally, having no survivors, prompted Millicent, in spite of her comments to the detective, to write a brief note to Regina regarding his assets, suggesting she might entertain hiring a lawyer to see about a claim; Wally had done very well for himself and had, according to the police, quite a sum in the bank and in investments.

Emily, meanwhile, casting off her shyness, had ventured out to see about gainful employment, something that she could regard as hers exclusively. Regina did not object. She did, however, voice a very strong opinion when she learned that Emily had been discussing a job with Sophia.

Sebastian tried to find a soul mate in Gary but soon gave up when Gary couldn't string three words together before picking up his phone. He tried to talk him into getting a pizza and watching the soccer game, anything to get him out the rat's nest his apartment had become, but Gary just looked at him as if he was nuts and went back to pounding on his keyboard.

Sophia was getting in the habit of calling and saying that she and Emily were going shopping after work, or she and Emily were going to a show or out for dinner and Sebastian, after getting to the peak of his anger, to no avail, crashed in his misery and began thinking about turning his life around. His first move was to open a beer and settle in front of the TV with the classifieds.

******

Stanley hurried into the coffee shop out of the rain, setting a soggy Haggis on the floor and shaking the water off his cap. He smiled and gave the waitress a wave as chose a table away from the other customers and slipped the dog's leash under a chair leg.

"Hello Stanley Whiteside."

"Hello Cheryl Woznoski." He answered, watching her pour a large mug of coffee for him. "You are looking terribly pretty today in spite of the gloomy weather."

"And handsome you are as well, Stanley." She grinned and stood hipshot by his table, holding the coffee pot in front of her waist. "Would you like your usual?"

He clasped his hands on the table and looked up at her. "No, Miss Woznoski, today I'm looking for something quite different." She continued grinning, a small crease appearing between her eyebrows. "Today I would like to know if you would consider an older gentleman's offer of ah, shall we say, closer, more intimate relationship."

Cheryl's grin stayed in place but the rest of her expression vanished. The pot lowered slowly to the table and she blinked rapidly a few times feeling her legs go rubbery.

"I can see that I've made a very grave error." Stanley said, pouring some milk in his coffee and stirring absently.

Cheryl slid into the chair across from him, her long legs at an awkward angle in the aisle, her forearms spread on the top of the table. "Stan- Stanley... what- what did you say?"

He straightened slightly and cleared his throat. "I said, would you care to share an older gentleman's life on a more intimate basis."

Her jaw dropped and tears began pouring out of her large, round eyes. "Oh- oh- oh- you mean- you mean... move in?" Her voice filled with the sound of disbelief.

"Well, among other things, yes." He coloured slightly and glanced at the other patrons.

"Oh Stan-LEY!" She leapt up and came around the table, dropping heavily onto his lap and throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh Stanley!" Soft wet kisses smothered his rough cheeks and forehead and Haggis began an aria of noisy objection.

"I take it you accept then."