“Yes, years,” Peggy affirmed.
“And you’re saying that Jerry and Allison went to restaurants, theaters, museums, and art galleries without running into any of our friends?” Kathleen asked.
“Oh, but don’t you see? That wasn’t a problem for them-unlike my husband and his trashy paramour who couldn’t explain to my best friend why they were together in the lobby of the Plaza in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the week.”
“Why wasn’t it a problem?” Susan asked.
“Because she was his ex-sister-in-law. They had a relationship that everyone knew about. They didn’t have to worry about being seen together.”
“And you don’t think that a mutual friend might have told Kathleen if she ran into Jerry and Allison together in the city?” Susan asked.
“Actually, a friend of mine did see them together a little over a month ago. They were having lunch together in the bar of the Four Seasons,” Kathleen said slowly.
“But that doesn’t mean anything really,” Susan insisted. “Jerry works near the Four Seasons. He has to eat lunch. That meeting could have meant nothing.”
“And why, if Allison and Jerry really were seeing each other all over the city back in the States, did they meet here?” Kathleen asked.
“Because Jerry wanted to tell you about their relationship without your children around. He wanted to ask you for a divorce so he could marry Allison.”
TWENTY
Kathleen carefully put down her glass and pushed her chair back. She stood up, snatched her straw bag off the floor, slung it over her shoulder, and stamped out of the bar without saying a word. Susan followed immediately.
Kathleen headed straight for her cottage, climbed the stairs to her deck, yanked open her door, and stormed right in.
“You didn’t lock your door,” Susan said, trailing her friend into the cool, dark interior.
“Jerry’s in jail, a strange woman just informed me that my marriage is a big lie, and you think I should be worried about locking the cottage door in case someone wants to steal a few suitcases full of overpriced resort clothing?” Kathleen’s final words were muffled.
“Kathleen! You’re crying!” Susan was shocked. “You don’t believe the garbage that woman was saying, do you?”
“Part of me doesn’t. And part of me knows that every woman whose husband has betrayed her has refused to believe the truth when she first heard it.”
“Kathleen, it’s not the truth. Jerry wasn’t in love with Allison. I’m sure of it.”
Kathleen grabbed some tissues from the box by the bed, blew her nose, and dried her eyes. “Okay. Susan, think about this as though you don’t know the people involved. If we had been told that story about someone we had never met, you and I would be sitting here discussing those poor, foolish women that Jerry had cheated on.”
“Not Jerry! I know Jerry, and the man Peggy described-a man who had an affair, then was so shaken by the loss of his wife that he married-”
“That he married me. The first woman to come along,” Kathleen said bitterly.
“The first woman to come along?” Susan squeaked. “Are you nuts? Jerry was the most eligible widower in Hancock for years. I introduced him to at least a dozen women, and I’ll bet half our friends did the same thing. You were not the first woman to come along. You were the first woman he fell in love with! Period! Jerry was miserable after June and the kids died, but he didn’t go insane and he had recovered any emotional stability he had lost long before he met you! And he was not in love with Allison.”
“Susan, you can’t be sure of that.”
“I-well, probably not, but she was always kind of an odd person,” Susan insisted, realizing her argument was losing steam. “I mean, her own sister had trouble with her coming to stay.”
“What if the reason June had such a difficult time being her sister’s hostess was because she suspected there was something going on between Jerry and Allison? Now, don’t have some sort of knee-jerk reaction and tell me I’m wrong. Think about it! It could be true, couldn’t it?”
Susan considered that possibility for a moment. “I suppose it could be true, but it probably isn’t. And I can’t believe Jerry would cheat on two wives with the same woman. Why didn’t he just marry Allison after June died?”
“I don’t know. But I know you don’t know, either.”
“Look, what if what Peggy told you was the truth? What if they were in love? Do you think Jerry could have killed her?”
“No. I can’t believe that. I won’t believe that.”
“And you still want to find the killer and get Jerry released?”
“Of course I do! But what if Peggy is telling everyone the story Allison told her? What if everyone believes Jerry came here to tell me about Allison?”
“You know that is the oddest part of her whole story! Why would Jerry come on vacation with the three of us to meet Allison and tell you that he wants a divorce?”
“Maybe he did want to protect the kids. If he told me at home, I might become hysterical. They would see me hysterical. It wouldn’t be good for them. If he told me here, I would be over the first shock before seeing Alex and Emily again. And you and Jed are here to help me through this.” Kathleen shook her head. “That does not sound like something Jerry would do. It doesn’t sound like something anyone would do.”
“What have I been telling you?”
“Okay. You’re right. It makes no sense. But-”
“But it’s the story Allison told Peggy and Frank. And she must have told them for a reason.”
“I suppose,” Kathleen said.
“So let’s say she made it all up,” Susan continued.
“She didn’t make up meeting Jerry in the city, Susan. They were together at the Four Seasons, remember.”
“Jerry meets lots of people at the Four Seasons. You know it meant nothing.”
“I don’t agree with that. He met her there. And less than a month later, they run into each other at a resort in the Caribbean. It could be a coincidence, but I doubt it.”
“Are you going to ask Jerry about it the next time you see him?”
“No. There’s always someone listening. We don’t talk about Allison at all. I’d feel much better if we could. I have so many questions.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I think I just heard someone on the deck.”
“Kathleen, Susan… it’s Peggy. I have something for you.” She knocked on the doorjamb.
Kathleen glanced over at Susan, who shrugged. “Come on in. The door’s open.”
Peggy walked into the room. A gigantic brilliant pink straw tote bag dangled from one hand. “I didn’t know what to do with this. I was going to turn it in to the office, but then I thought of your husband. He’s really the closest thing Allison had to a relative on the island. Perhaps he should have this.”
“What is it?” Kathleen asked.
Susan was quicker. “Is that Allison’s bag?” She reached out for it.
Peggy pulled the tote out of Susan’s reach. “Yes. She left it on our deck the afternoon before she died. I saw it and brought it in when the rain began and then forgot all about it.” Peggy paused. “When I realized she was dead, I just kept it. Frank said I should turn it in to the office, but I told him that the office didn’t have any more right to it than I do. Anyway, here it is. If you want it.”
“We do!” Susan said.
“I was thinking it should go to Kathleen,” Peggy pointed out.
Kathleen accepted the bag. “Thank you. It was very nice of you. And-and thank you for talking to us.”
“Oh, my dear, we should start a support group-women who’ve been wronged by the men they love.”
“I don’t think-”
“I know. You’ve had a shock and right now you don’t believe what I’ve told you. All I can say is that I have a nice broad shoulder to cry on when you come to accept the truth. Now I’d better get going. Frank is in the bar trying to drink all the rum. I plan on helping him.”