Part 19 (2/2)
”No.” Corney paused. ”You know, I think I probably overreacted. It's just been so long since I was with a man I think I forgot how they are.”
Lucy didn't think using handcuffs and trying to strangle your partner were typical male behaviors, but she didn't say anything for fear of upsetting Corney. She'd been through a traumatic experience and it would take time for her to process it. In the meantime she would need sympathy and support. ”I'll stop by later,” promised Lucy. ”Just to make sure everything's all right.”
”Thanks, Lucy,” said Corney, her voice a bit shaky.
Hanging up, Lucy dialed Fern's Famous, where Flora answered the phone.
”How's Dora?” she asked.
”About how you'd expect, if you were innocent and accused of killing two people and sitting in a stinky jail cell,” said Flora, in her matter-of-fact tone.
”I heard you hired Bob Goodman,” said Lucy. ”He's the best.”
”He's charging enough,” said Flora, adding a little humph.
Lucy knew Bob's rates were extremely fair, but doubted Flora knew that many lawyers charged hundreds of dollars per hour. ”Maybe they'll catch the real murderer before it goes to trial,” said Lucy. ”I'm following up on something that might help. Do you know when Max was in Mexico?”
”Well, it was when Dora got pregnant with Lily. He got her pregnant and hightailed off. I had to go down and bring him back and make him do the right thing.”
”So that was about twenty years ago, something like that?”
”That'd be about right.”
”There's another thing,” said Lucy. ”Do you know anything about the tuition money Max promised for Lily?”
”Promises, promises,” snorted Flora. ”Max was always making promises.”
”Do you have any idea where he was going to get it?”
”I do not,” said Flora. ”As far as I know, he was broke, he was always broke.” She paused. ”Maybe his rich old uncle died and left him a bundle. Maybe he was blackmailing somebody. Maybe he won the lottery. I really don't know. What I do know is that if he got a dollar, he spent it.”
Lucy was thoughtful. Flora had meant it as a joke, sort of, but blackmail could be a motive for murder. ”Do you really think Max was blackmailing somebody? Where'd you get that idea?”
”Same place I got the idea about the rich uncle and the lottery ticket. Where do people get money if they don't work for it? Trust me, Max wasn't much of a worker. Maybe he was going to sell something, maybe he had a buyer for that snowmobile of his. Like I said, I really don't know where Max thought he was going to get twenty thousand dollars for Lily. All I know is that he never did.”
”Right. Well, thanks Flora. Say hi to Dora for me. Let her know I'm thinking of her and doing everything I can to catch the real killer.”
Flora didn't reply immediately and Lucy suspected she probably didn't think much of her investigative abilities, so she was surprised when Flora finally spoke. ”You be careful, Lucy.”
”I will,” promised Lucy, touched by Flora's concern. ”I surely will.”
Turning to her morning ch.o.r.es, Lucy loaded the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher, wiped the counters, and swept the floor. She was just finis.h.i.+ng running the vacuum around the family room when the girls appeared, looking for rides.
”Can I take the car?” asked Sara.
”What for? I thought your job ended with Valentine's Day.”
”I've got a study group meeting at Jenny's house. It's a group project on women's suffrage.”
”And I'm going to Friends of Animals,” added Zoe. ”I'm filling in for Laurie-she went on that ski trip.”
Lucy thought for a minute. Bill was under the weather now, but he'd probably want his truck later. Besides, he didn't like anyone to drive it except himself. She could let Sara take the Subaru, but that would leave her without transportation and she had promised to stop in at Corney's. ”No. I'm going to need the car,” she said.
Sara wasn't happy with her decision. ”What about the truck?”
”Don't push it,” said Lucy, laughing. ”Your father's not in a mood to share this morning.” She wrapped up the vacuum cleaner cord. ”I'll take you.”
Lucy made the familiar trip, first dropping Zoe at Friends of Animals and then letting Sara off at Jenny's house. She went on to the Quik-Stop for gas, feeling guilty about adding to the nation's thirst for foreign oil and resentful that she didn't really have a choice, and picked up a sports drink for Bill's hangover. When she was leaving the store, a man with a buzz cut and a decided military bearing held the door for her. She thanked him and hurried to her car, but when she started the engine a little hunch popped into her head. She waited until the man left the store and watched as he strode off down Main Street, observing that he appeared to be in his early fifties and extremely fit. She was certain she'd never seen him in town before.
Acting on the hunch, she drove slowly until the car was alongside him, then rolled down the window. ”You're new in town, aren't you?” she asked. ”Can I help you with anything?”
He turned, an amused expression on his face. ”I know this is a small town but... .”
Lucy interrupted him. ”I'm Lucy Stone. I'm a reporter with the local paper. I really do know everybody in town,” she said, handing him her card. ”And I'm thinking you might be Tamzin Graves's ex-husband.”
”You must be a really good reporter,” he said, raising an eyebrow. ”I'm Larry Graves and I was married to Tamzin for a couple of years.”
”I'm very sorry for your loss,” said Lucy, in a serious tone.
Graves's expression hardened. ”She didn't deserve this.”
”I know.” Lucy paused, thinking that survivors often wanted to talk about their lost loved one. ”You know, I'm going to have to write an obituary for her and I don't know much about her. Maybe you could help me?”
Graves hesitated a moment, then nodded.
”How about a cup of coffee?”
”Sure,” he said, reaching for the car door.
When he was seated, Lucy continued driving down Main Street, toward Jake's. Graves sat beside her, large and silent, and she remembered hearing he was in Afghanistan.
”You must have some case of jet lag,” she said. ”How long is the flight from Afghanistan?”
”Actually, it was only a short hop, from Cape Cod. There's a training facility at Camp Edwards-a little village and a lot of sand-it's to give the troops a feeling for what they'll encounter in the Middle East. I'm one of the instructors.”
”Oh.” Lucy pulled into a parking spot in front of Jake's and braked. ”But you were in Afghanistan?”
”Yeah.” He fell silent, climbing out of the car. ”I've been back stateside for six months or so,” he said, as they climbed the steps and went inside the coffee shop.
The morning crowd had gone and Norine, the waitress, was busy clearing tables and tidying up. ”Sit anywhere you want,” she said.
Lucy chose a booth at the back. ”This is on me,” she said, as Norine set two menus down in front of them. ”Have whatever you want.”
”Just coffee, regular,” he said, pulling off his hat and shrugging out of his jacket. His buzz cut was sprinkled with gray, Lucy noticed, and the skin was stretched tightly over his cheekbones. His eyes were very blue.
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