The Mystery of the Lakeshore Ltd - An Eleanor and Lydia Mystery

Chapter Five

The oddities of old age were numerous, but one of the more flumoxing, in Eleanor's opinion, was that a person was so easily exhausted, yet the luxury of a long, refreshing sleep remained always elusive. The effort of getting herself to Sunday worship on time could leave her dozing in the pew during church. No matter, Sunday night would find her lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember the lyrics to a Nat King Cole favorite from her girlhood days.

More to the point, she could drift off in the back seat of a drug dealer's car, but she was restless as a cat on a hot tin roof at half past four the following morning.

Stuff and nonsense. She'd have time aplenty for sleeping after she died.

Moving with extreme caution so as to avoid aggravating the many new aches and pains she'd earned in the past twenty-four hours, Eleanor showered and dressed in a red pantsuit. She patted some color onto her pale, wrinkled skin and chose a shade of lipstick that matched the suit. All-in-all, she thought the effect worked for her.

It was nearly six by the time she arrived in the kitchen to find Lydia already up and three-quarters of the way through an enormous mug of dark roast coffee. She had an electronic tablet propped up in front of her and she scrolled with her right hand while clutching the handle of the mug with her left.

"You're up early," Eleanor commented.

"There will be time to sleep when I'm dead," Lydia said without looking away from the screen.

Eleanor grinned and settled into the chair to Lydia's right. "What does the World Wide Web tell you this morning?"

Turning the screen so Eleanor could see the map displayed there, Lydia pointed at a red arrow. "I'm pretty sure that's where we were taken." She zoomed in to show a stunning estate surrounded by forest on three sides.

"That looks right. What do you know about it?"

"It's owned by Rodney Cruise. He lives there with his wife, Renee, and sometimes their son, Riley." Lydia pushed her chair back. "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, thank you, but I wouldn't refuse a glass of juice," Eleanor said. "I've heard that name, Rodney Cruise. A politician?"

"Businessman. As far as I can tell, he's got more money than Midas. His kid is a student at UT. Two years ago he got in deep water when he got caught with a bunch of drugs in his car. It was in the press for a month or so, and then the story mysteriously vanished."

Lydia set a full juice glass in front of Eleanor and plopped in her seat again. She took a long drink of coffee and Eleanor wondered if the girl's wild hair would go straight and smooth should she ever reduce her caffeine intake.

"Connections to politics?" Eleanor asked.

"What you'd expect. He endorses all the pro-business people, writes checks here and there, attends the right fundraisers and gives just enough to the right causes."

Eleanor sipped her juice. "Does Senator Maxworth's name appear next to Mr. Cruise's very often?"

"Not any more often than anyone else's, as far as I noticed." Lydia dragged the screen close to herself and her fingers flew across the surface. "There's a photo of him with Maxworth at the children's hospital, but Cruise seems pretty outspoken in favor of the other party."

"Hmm," said Eleanor. "Let's get some breakfast."

"Breakfast?" The poor over-caffeinated child seemed somewhat flummoxed by the idea.

Eleanor braced herself and rose from her chair. "Breakfast. I'm thinking something in a nice, crowded public place to reassure Detective Bolton that we're behaving like proper ladies and following instructions. And I wouldn't mind seeing who else is out and about on this lovely morning. Perhaps, by the time we're done, I'll be able to get in touch with Mrs. Gozdziewski."