"I'm pretty sure my daddy gave it to him as a joke. Maybe Jake was supposed to wrap his shotgun up in it or wear it on his clothes." Kelsey grinned, and I noticed that he was missing several teeth.
"Where did Jake live?" I asked.
"Near the Pine Lodge. Sort of halfway between downtown Black Mountain and Montreal."
"Any chance he might have passed on that roll of tape to someone else?" Kelsey stared down at the tray of communion glasses in his hands, his brow wrinkled in thought.
"For example," I went on, "did Jake hunt with anybody else? Maybe someone else who might have had a need for the tape, since it was the blaze orange that hunters use?"
"I got no way to know if he passed it along. But I will tell you that he was close to Chuck Steiner. They went out looking for bear every season while the rest of us hoped they didn't find none. Don't know why anyone'd want a grizzle bear coming their way. And you shoot one and what're you expectin' to do with it except make it into a rug? You can't eat it'less you're Daniel Boone and Mingo about to starve to death."
"Chuck Steiner was Denesa Steiner's husband?" I asked, and I did not let my voice show what I felt.
"He was. A mighty nice man, too. It just killed us all when he passed on. If we'd known he had such a bad heart, we would've sat on him more, made him take it easier."
"But he hunted?" I had to know.
"Oh, he sure did. I went out with him and Jake a number of times. Those two liked to go out in the woods. I always told'em they ought to go to Aferca. That's where the big game is. You know, I personally couldn't shoot a stick bug."
"If that's the same as a praying mantis, you shouldn't shoot a stick bug. It would be bad luck."
"It's not the same thing," he said matter-of-factly.
"A praying mantis is a whole not her insect. But I think the same way you do about that. No, ma'am, I wouldn't touch one. "
"Mr. Kelsey, did you know Chuck Steiner well?"
"I knew him from hunting' and church."
"He taught school."
"He taught Bible at that private religious school. If I coulda sent my son there, I would' ave
"What else can you tell me about him?"
"He met his wife in California when he was in the military."
"Did you ever hear him mention a baby that died? An infant girl named Mary Jo who may have been born in California?"
"Why, no." He looked surprised.
"I always had the impression Emily was their only young' un Did they lose a little baby girl, too? Oh me, oh my." His expression was pained.
"What happened after they left California?" I went on.
"Do you know?"
"They came here. Chuck didn't like it out west, and he used to come here as a boy when his family vacationed. They generally stayed in a cabin on Gray Beard Mountain."
"Where is that?"
"Montreal Same town where Billy Graham lives. Now the reverend's not here much, but I've seen his wife." He paused.
"Did anybody tell you about Zeida Fitzgerald burning up in a hospital around here?"
"I know about that," I said.
"Chuck was real good about fixin' clocks. He did it for a hobby and eventually got to where he was fixin' all the clocks for the Biltmore House."
"Where did he fix them?"
"He went to the Biltmore House to fix those. But people in the area would bring theirs directly to him. He had a shop in his basement."
Mr. Kelsey would have talked all day, and I extricated myself as kindly as I could. Outside, I called Wesley's pager with my portable phone and left the police code 10-25, which simply meant "Meet me." He would know where. I was contemplating returning to the foyer to get out of the cold when I realized from the conversations of the few people still trickling out that they were members of the choir. I almost panicked. The very instant she entered my mind she was there. Denesa Steiner waited at the church door, smiling at me.
"Welcome," she said warmly with eyes as hard as copper.
"Good morning, Mrs. Steiner," I said.
"Did Captain Marino come with you?"
"He's Catholic." She had on a black wool coat that touched the top of her black T-strapped shoes, and she was pulling on black kid gloves. She wore no makeup except for a blush of color on her sensuous lips, her honey-blond hair falling in loose curls over her shoulders. I found her beauty as cold as the day, and I wondered how I ever could have felt sympathy for her or believed her pain.
"What brings you to this church?" she next asked.
"There's a Catholic church in Asheville."
I wondered what else she knew about me. I wondered what Marino had told her.
"I wanted to pay my respects to your daughter," I said, looking directly into her eyes.
"Well, now, isn't that sweet." Still smiling, she did not avert her gaze.
"Actually, it's good we just happened to run into each other," I said.
"} need to ask you some questions. Perhaps it would be convenient if I did that now?"
"Here?"
"I would prefer your house."
"I was going to have BLTS for lunch. I just didn't feel like making a big Sunday dinner, and Pete's trying to cut back."
"I'm not interested in eating." I made very little effort to disguise my feelings. My heart was as hard as the expression on my face. She had tried to kill me. She had almost killed my niece.
"Then I guess I'll meet you there."
"I would appreciate a ride. I don't have a car."
I wanted to see her car. I had to see it.
"Mine's in the shop."
"That's unusual. It's quite new, as I recall." If my eyes had been lasers, they would have burned holes in her by now.
"I'm afraid I got a lemon and had to leave it at a dealership out of state. The thing conked out on me during a trip. I rode with a neighbor, but you're welcome to ride with us. She's waiting in her car."
I followed her down field stone steps and along a sidewalk to more steps. There were a few cars still parked along the street and one or two pulling away. Her neighbor was an elderly woman wearing a pink pillbox hat and a hearing aid. She was behind the wheel of an old white Buick, the heater blasting and gospel music on. Mrs. Steiner offered me the front seat and I refused. I did not want her behind my back. I wanted to see everything she did at all times, and I wished I had my. 38. But it had not seemed right to take a gun to church, and it had not occurred to me that any of this would happen.
Mrs. Steiner and her neighbor chatted in the front seat and I was silent in the back. The trip lasted but a few minutes; then we were at the Steiner house, and I noted that Marino's car was in the same spot where it had been parked last night when Wesley and I had slowly driven past. I could not imagine what it would be like to see Marino.
I had no idea what I would say or what his demeanor toward me would be. Mrs. Steiner opened her front door. We went in, and I noticed Marino's motel room and car keys on a Norman Rockwell plate on the foyer table.
"Where's Captain Marino?" I asked.
"Upstairs, asleep." She pulled off her gloves.
"He wasn't feeling well last night. You know, there's a bug going around." She unbuttoned her coat and lightly shook her shoulders to get out of it. She glanced away as she took it off as if she were accustomed to giving anybody interested an opportunity to look at breasts no matronly clothing could hide. The language of her body was seductive, and it was speaking for my benefit now. She was teasing me, but not for the same reasons she might tease a man. Denesa Steiner was flaunting herself. She was very competitive with women and this told me even more about what her relationship with Emily had been like.
"Maybe I should check on him," I said.
"Pete just needs to sleep. I'll take him up some hot tea and be right with you. Why don't you make yourself comfortable in the living room? Would you like coffee or tea? "
"Nothing, thank you," I said, and the silence in the house disturbed me.
As soon as I heard her go upstairs, I looked around. I went back into the foyer, slipped Marino's car keys in my pocket, and walked into the kitchen. To the left of the sink was a door leading outside. Opposite it was another one locked with a slide bolt. I slid back the bolt and turned the knob.