You know Didee has the same problem as your aunt. Its like theres a cancer epidemic. Harry wondered out loud.
No wonder. Pollution. Hormones in our meats, milk. Plus stress. There
is
a cancer epidemic! Susan then switched subjects. Is Fair enjoying Inezs visit?
One of the first things Harry had told Susan about was Inezs visit and her trying to hold her alumnae board together. Loves it. He loves her. Harry paused. You know, Inez is a second mother to him, and like most men, he loved his mother, and he loves Inez.
We all love our mothers, but I swear the mother-son bond is extraordinary, just like the father-daughter one. I see it in my own children. I love them both, but its different with Danny than with Brooks.
Ill be at your door to greet you next week. Harry noticed Tucker, fast asleep on her back, legs straight in the air.
Before signing off, Susan jumped back to the murders. Is it possible these are some sort of revenge killings?
No one knows. Cooper has tried to glean some information from the St. Louis police and from the Fulton authorities. Not much help.
Theres probably not a compelling reason for them to include the Albemarle County deputy in their investigations.
Cooper explained she has some concern for Inez and even Aunt Tally, but they paid little attention. Then again, they must be under a lot of pressure, especially the police in Fulton. Its a small town. There arent a lot of murders. St. Louis must be full of them. Little shock value.
After returning the phone to its cradle, Harry looked outside at the rain, now steady and strong.
Oh, what the hell. She took off her slippers, went out onto the porch, and put herself back together. As she did so, Tucker ambled out, along with the two cats.
She looked down at them, then out at the rain. The Volvo, though parked close, wasnt under cover. She didnt have a garage.
All right, but all three of you are riding in the back, because your paws will be wet. She realized the minute she said it that the cats would be over the back seat and up to the front passenger seat in an instant. She went back into the house and grabbed an old towel.
Out they ran. The hatch lifted right up, and she put Tucker in, who weighed enough to make her grunt. She wiped the dogs feet. The cats, miraculously, stayed in the back so she could wipe theirs, too.
By the time she slipped behind the wheel though, both Mrs. Murphy and Pewter sat on the passenger seat.
Im ready for adventure,
Pewter purred.
Two miles down the road, the rain became so heavy it looked like a silver-gray curtain. Harry pressed the flasher button on the Volvo. She was born here; she knew these roads. She knew Virginia weather. You could become disoriented in a hard rain or snow, especially with blowing winds and poor visibility. Many country roads had deep ditches alongside to funnel the runoff away so the road itself didnt flood. How easy it was to wind up in one of those ditches.
I wish I hadnt done this, Harry said aloud. I could have picked up the phone and called.
You said it. I didnt.
Pewter, like Mrs. Murphy, stood with hind feet on the leather seat, front feet on the dash.
Tucker, come up into the backseat, Harry called to the corgi, who did as she was told.
Youd be hamburger if we got rear-ended.
Pewter appeared to relish the detail.
Yeah, well, lets also hope no one crosses the center line,
the dog called back.
Fortunately, no one else was on the road. When it got this bad, people pulled under the overpasses or to the side of the road. Harry usually didnt go to the roadside and park, because sometimes a car with a foolish driver would be tearing along and perceive the red flashing lights too late. Better to keep moving.
She rolled into Crozet at twenty miles per hour and hooked a right onto Route 240. A few miles later she turned left onto Route 250. The rain had slowed enough so she could see a little better, but in places where the road was banked, the water poured over it onto the other side and into the narrow ditches.
Twenty-five minutes later, she parked in front of Terris store. While Harry usually kept some distance from Terri, this was a small community. You couldnt really avoid people. Remembering what Aunt Tally and Inez said that Liz had told them concerning Terris distress, she thought shed buy one of those damned birds. Then, too, she just needed to get out of the house.
You all stay here. Let me make my manners.
Good.
Pewter settled down for a snooze.
Take me. Take me,
Tucker begged.
Harry twisted around in the drivers seat. No. Im not forking over another $261.41.
Two forty-nine,
Tucker replied, not figuring in the sales tax on the broken vase.
It really wasnt Tuckers fault.
None of the three animals understood why humans submitted to taxation. They thought it utterly insane.
Harry cut the motor, pocketed the keys, and slipped out. Shed slapped her oilskin cowboy hat on her head, for which she was grateful as the rain continued.
At the door, she took off her hat, shook it, shook herself to get some of the water off the Barbour coat, then stamped her Wellies, which werent muddy. She opened the door. Terri.
Terri looked up from the counter, where she was reading the newspaper.
Hello. It was not a warm greeting.
How are you feeling?
How do you think Im feeling? Terri folded the newspaper.
Harry ignored her attitude. Im sorry its all so upsetting.
Whats it to you? You didnt really know them. Terri glared, then added spitefully, Youre just nosy.
Harrys restraint was thinning. Im out of here.
You were at William Woods, and you didnt seem the least bit upset by Mariahs disappearance. Thats what Liz said. Terri raised her voice.
I met the woman once for all of two minutes.
Terri, sweating and restless, couldnt seem to focus. If anything, she seemed to be looking for a target for whatever was troubling her. Wherever you are, theres a problem.
I know how to remove the problem. Harry, realizing that Terri was irrational, strode for the door.
You can get out of my store!
Harry stopped at the door and turned, her hand on the long push handle. Whatever youre on, get off it. Drink or drugs are a one-way ticket to hell.
Terri screamed, picked up a small porcelain guinea hen, and heaved it at the door Harry had closed behind her. It hit and shattered.
See what you made me do!
That woman is certifiable. Harry shook her head, then got back in her car. She drove west on Barracks Road, which turned into Garth Road, all the way to White Hall, where she turned left toward Crozet. The rain came down steady, but not as heavy. She could see, although she stayed about ten miles under the speed limit. She passed the old apple packing shed that Chuck Pinnell had revamped into his house and workshop for making beautiful handbags, belts, and chaps. She was still riding in a pair of chaps hed made twenty-five years ago. They had been repaired, but it proved her philosophy: Buy the best you can afford, because in the long run, its cheaper.
She kept thinking about Terri Kincaid going off the rails. She drove past the old Crozet high school, the new elementary school on her left, and turned right just before the railroad overpass.
Three miles later, she passed the spot where Ralston Peavey had been found. She pulled over and hit her flashers. The Volvo could easily be seen now, but Harry was a conservative driver for the most part.
She was more upset than she cared to admit. While she did wonder about this old murder, too, Harry wasperhaps without realizing ittrying to divert her mind from the smashed porcelain hen, the screaming.