I held it up so she could see in the mirror in front of her. 
	Mrs. Izato waved it off, “Oh that’s not bad, go ahead and put it on there. We’ll worry about it if it gets worse.”
	We entered the Northeast Garden, but we were not the first to arrive. Gertrude already had a plate stacked with pimento cheese sandwiches along with a pitcher full of iced tea. The plates and cups were all sustainable waxed cardboard, solid white as were the paper napkins.
	The gentleman was there, and with no hat on you could see his horseshoe pattern hairline it was still a solid black color with just enough silver hairs to make it look like someone sprinkled salt on it. He wore a light beige, long sleeved polo shirt and dark beige khakis. He was already seated across from Pearl and Esther who were so full of meaningless chatter I couldn’t make out what one was saying over the other.
	I pulled a chair out for myself to sit on the side and rolled Mrs. Izato into it’s place.
	White gloves strolled in shortly after we did. I took notice of her gloves, they were a powder blue and leatherette, matching her pantsuit and the blues in the floral blouse underneath.
	“Maribel, why are you always fashionably late?” the gentleman glanced in her direction.
	She motioned towards Pearl and Esther, “Because I don’t just throw on whatever is clean willy nilly like some people.”
	Pearl snapped to attention seeing how her fashion sense was being criticized. She responded sharply, “It’s good to see you have time for such pomp and nonsense. Meanwhile Esther and I have had our very lives threatened!”
	“You don’t say!” Dorthy gasped out loud. She motioned to Maribel to hurry up and sit down, “Let’s hurry up and get this unofficial meeting into order.”
	Maribel sat down and all eyes turned to Pearl, as Esther meekly sank back in her chair to avoid their detection.
	Pearl had no problem rising to the challenge, what happened to her was a badge of honor not some fear to be struck into the faint of heart. Well at least not now, in the company of all her friends. “We approached him while he was out walking his dog. We barraged him with questions, but he avoided every one. But he did say.” She paused more for dramatics than to actually glance back at Esther, which she did. Slowly looking back she continued, “He knew about our pack of friends. And he knew my full name, and the name of my business, and even where my business was.”
	The unease of everyone at the table was apparent.
	Even the unshakable Mrs. Izato look a little afraid. Not concerned, not worried, afraid.
	In fact the only person not afraid was probably me, because I don’t live here. But I am concerned for The Sacred Tea Order of Alpine. What if this madman decides to take one of them next, who is to stop him? Not me, I can’t be up here twenty four hours a day. And you know who he’d take