“Something about wanting to see what your friend was up to. Sorry about your loss.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I thought I knew Pammy. We’d been friends for a long time. But-when it came down to it, I really didn’t know her at all. Did she tell you much about her life?”
“Just that she was broke, but she thought that was going to change.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that from more than one person. Did she say how that was going to happen?”
Joe shook his head. “Seems to me she was the type of woman who always had a harebrained scheme she was working.” He stopped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disrespect your friendship with Pam.”
Tricia managed a grim laugh, and they began walking again. “Don’t worry. You’re not the first one to think that about Pammy. She always had bad luck. Always seemed one step ahead of the repo man.”
“It’s sad, really. A woman like that. Very few friends, a family she was on the outs with.”
“She told you all that?”
He nodded. “Do you know her family?”
Tricia thought back. In all the years she’d known Pammy, she’d never met any of her family. “No. But she always said they didn’t have two nickels to rub together. I can’t imagine why she thought she was about to come into money. She certainly didn’t mention it to me.”
He shrugged.
“And why was she hanging around Stoneham for so long?”
“The night I met her, she told me she wanted to attend the Food Shelf’s dedication. The thing is, it kept getting delayed. Something to do with the HVAC systems. Libby could tell you why.”
Was that why Pammy had stayed so long in Tricia’s apartment?
“Libby told me Pammy was eager to see Stuart Paige at the Food Shelf dedication,” Joe continued. “Coming into money-making a scene to meet a rich man. That almost sounds like a formula for blackmail.”
“Yes, I thought of that, too,” Tricia said. They resumed walking. “I didn’t see you at the dedication.”
“No, I had to work.”
“And where’s that?”
“A public relations firm here in Nashua.”
“That’s a bit of a commute-a whole fifteen, twenty minutes,” Tricia said, and laughed.
“Ideally, I’d like to work in Stoneham, but there’s not much in my line of work in a small town-except for people wanting freebies. And Libby would never leave Stoneham. I’ve got an old diesel Volkswagen that I converted to run on cooking oil. I get all I need from the Bookshelf Diner and a couple of fast-food restaurants between Stoneham and Nashua. It works out pretty cheaply, and I’m not dependent on foreign oil.”
“Something I wish I could say. But then, I don’t travel far from Stoneham these days, myself. In fact, I usually fill up my gas tank only a couple of times a month.”
“You’re a good citizen of the Earth.”
Tricia laughed. “Thanks. And was Pammy? She apparently liked to recycle things. I understand she was an antiques picker at one time. My sister says she knew about and was good at restaurant food prep-not that she did it for Angelica for more than an hour or so before she was killed.”
Joe shook his head. “I can’t believe we’ve had three murders in Stoneham in the last year. It bucks the odds.”
Tricia didn’t want to get into the old “town jinx” discussion-especially since she’d been the one to find all three bodies-and quickly steered the conversation away from the topic. “I just can’t imagine why she wanted to see Stuart Paige. You mentioned blackmail. Did Pammy give you any hint of what she was up to?”
“Not a word. We mostly talked recipes. And don’t forget, we were barely acquaintances. I only met the woman twice, when she came along on our forays.”
“How did she do that? She and Ginny weren’t pals, so I can’t imagine her inviting Pammy along. In fact, she would’ve told me if she had.”
“I’m pretty sure it was Pete who first invited her. I think she ran into him one night in back of the convenience store in Stoneham.”
Pete-the one person Tricia hadn’t had a chance to talk with on this little adventure. She couldn’t even remember his last name. But Ginny would know. She’d ask her as soon as they got back to the car. If she could track Pete down, she might finally find out exactly what Pammy was doing in Stoneham. Then again, he might be as clueless as the rest of them. That thought didn’t fill her with confidence.
She’d get no more out of Joe or Eugenia, and figured she might as well make small talk to kill the time until they got back to the car. “Tell me more about your job,” Tricia said.
“I write press releases for a nonprofit. Public service announcements. The whiz kids get all the interesting assignments. I do a lot of volunteer PR for the Food Shelf, too.”
It sounded pretty boring to Tricia.
Joe continued with his job description, but she only half listened, preoccupied with her disappointment at not finding out more about Pammy and her recycling lifestyle. Before she knew it, they were standing behind Brian’s SUV. He’d already opened up the back, and he and Ginny were stowing their finds. Tricia handed him the canvas bag she held.
“You really need to get a more fuel-efficient car, Brian,” Joe said.
“Yeah, yeah-but this thing’s paid off. I can’t afford a new loan-not with the house sucking up every spare cent we have.”
“Don’t start this argument again,” Eugenia told her father, and gave Ginny a hug. “See you next week, if not before.”
“Sure thing.”
Eugenia leaned in to give Brian a quick kiss on the lips. He didn’t seem startled by it, but Tricia could tell by Ginny’s expression that she wasn’t happy about it.
“Good night, Tricia,” Eugenia called.
Joe waved a good-bye to them all, and he and his daughter continued walking.
Brian gave the button on his key ring a squeeze, and the SUV’s doors unlocked. Ginny waited until they were in the car to speak. “You let her kiss you again.”
“Hey, babe, we have a guest. Can’t we discuss this at home?”
Ginny exhaled a snorting breath. Tricia was glad she wouldn’t have to hear the argument that would probably break out the minute they dropped her off in front of her store.
They buckled their seat belts and Brian started the car, steering the vehicle away from the curb and heading for the main drag once more.
No one spoke for quite a while. Brian hadn’t even turned on the radio to extinguish the tension.
The lights of Nashua were fading behind them when Tricia finally broke the quiet. “Thanks for bringing me along, guys.”
“Did you find out what you needed to know?” Brian asked.
“Joe told me that Pammy started coming to these little jaunts at Pete’s invitation. Of course he told me this after Pete and Lisa left.”
“Was it Pete?” Brian asked. “I thought it was Joe.” He shrugged. “Guess I’m wrong.”
A number of cars whizzed by in the opposite direction.
Tricia frowned. “Is there some way I can get hold of Pete? I’d like to talk to him-without Lisa being around. I think she took a dislike to me.”
“She’d dislike anybody who was Pammy’s friend,” Ginny said.
“Why?”
“That woman was a terrible flirt. Just like Eugenia,” Ginny grated.
Pammy had never given Tricia that impression. Or maybe it was just perceived that a woman alone was man-hungry.
“Do you have a number where I could reach Pete?”
“Sure,” Brian said. “But you can look it up yourself. He works at the convenience store in Stoneham.”
No wonder Pete had looked familiar-he’d probably waited on Tricia more than once. Had he found Pammy digging in that store’s Dumpster? “I assume he works the day shift?”
“He works whenever he feels like it. His father owns the store.”
Tricia felt the SUV accelerate.
“Why are you going so fast?” Ginny asked.
“There’s a car speeding up behind me.”
“So, let him go past,” Ginny said.