A Timely Vision

“Lead her back to the van.” Kevin’s voice replaced Agent Walker’s in my ear. “Let us take it from here, Dae. You’ve done what you could.”

I wanted to scream at Mary Lou to run away and hide. Agent Walker had his information. We could save Miss Mildred with it. I knew Mary Lou would have to be punished. At least my rational mind knew it. With all my heart, I wished she’d get in her car and drive far away. But I kept walking, and she kept following across the sandy ground and down the road.

We finally reached the van where Kevin and Agent Walker waited. I didn’t know if I’d ever been so exhausted. I felt like I could fall on the ground and sleep for days. I thought it was probably a reaction to being so nervous and finding out I was right about Mary Lou.

I heard the van door slide open, then saw a glint of something metallic in the dim light from the interior. Without thinking, I threw myself in front of Mary Lou. She cowered on the ground before me, whimpering, probably thinking I meant to kill her. “Don’t hurt her! It was an accident. She deserves to be judged by a jury,” I yelled out.

“Dae?” Mary Lou looked up at me. “Is that you?”

“I’m Agent Walker with the State Bureau of Investigation.” He stepped beside her as several lights flashed on from outside the van. “We need to have a serious conversation, Mrs. Harcourt. Why don’t you come with me and tell me what happened to Mrs. Simpson?”

“It was the turtles,” she blurted out with a sob. “They need me. I couldn’t leave them during nesting season. Look at the damage done by the storm.”

Agent Walker helped her up. I realized the glint of metal I’d seen was his badge and not his gun, as I’d feared. I fell down on the soft ground, my legs giving out. I didn’t know what to think, but I was glad it was over. I couldn’t have walked another step if I’d tried.

“Are you okay?” Kevin asked, crouching beside me.

“No. Not really. I know this had to be done. I’m glad for Miss Mildred. But I hate that it had to come to this. I’ve known her all my life. This is terrible.”

“Tell me how it happened, Mrs. Harcourt,” Agent Walker coaxed, explaining her legal rights. “I promise it will make you feel better when it’s all out.”

“I couldn’t feel any worse, son,” she admitted. “When I saw Lizzie’s ghost standing next to the bed, I wasn’t a bit afraid of dying. I only wanted it to end.”

She went on to explain that she was frantically trying to save some turtles from high tide the night before the Fourth of July celebration. “I didn’t even notice Lizzie was there. You know how she had that way of standing and watching you, not saying a word. I was using the shovel to mound up some extra sand. I went back with it and hit something solid. I didn’t even realize I’d hit Lizzie in the head until I saw her fall to the ground.”

“You hit her in the head, Mrs. Harcourt, but you didn’t kill her. You should’ve called for help.”

Mary Lou’s eyes were wet with tears that gleamed in the bright lights. “What are you saying? I checked her pulse. There was no heartbeat.”

“There was sand in her lungs. That means she was still breathing when you buried her.”

“No! No! That can’t be true! I checked her. She was dead. I had to bury her to protect the turtles. Then when everyone was looking for someone to blame, I went to Millie and asked her for money for the turtle sanctuary. I was thinking if I could get everything set up, I’d confess. But she told me I had to wait until she died to get the land she promised me. That’s when I thought of blaming her for what happened. Only for a while. Only until the turtles were protected. Then I would’ve told the truth. It was only an accident. I never meant to hurt Lizzie.”

I thought I was shocked and horrified before Agent Walker explained about Miss Elizabeth’s death. Knowing that she had been buried alive on the beach made everything so much worse. I started crying and covered my face with my hands. Kevin put his arms around me, and I cried into his shirt. How could something like this happen in Duck?

“You’ll have to come with me.” Agent Walker took Mary Lou’s arm to lead her away.

I lifted my head to see her go, and she stared at me. “I’m so sorry, Lizzie,” she sobbed. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”

I couldn’t speak. What could I say anyway? I didn’t know how Miss Elizabeth would’ve responded to that apology. But it was impossible to be forgiven by the dead. Mary Lou was going to have to live with what she’d done for the rest of her life. It struck me that the rest of us would have to live with it too.

Kevin took me home without any conversation. I went upstairs while he explained what had happened to Gramps.

I drew a hot bath and sat in it until I was completely pruny and the water was cold. I didn’t really think about anything. I couldn’t. My brain felt wiped clean of any information.

As I got out of the tub, I realized that even with all that water, I still hadn’t scrubbed the makeup off my face. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that half of it must’ve come off on Kevin’s shirt. I scrubbed off the rest until my face was clean and pink.

I stared at myself for a long time, questioning again if what I’d done was the right thing. Sometimes, there was a terrible price to pay for helping people. I knew if I had to do the same thing again, I would. But I knew this incident was one I would never forget. The look in Mary Lou’s drowned eyes when she asked me for forgiveness would haunt me the rest of my life.

When I was in bed, staring at the dark ceiling, there was a knock on the door. “Dae?” Gramps said. “Are you still awake?”

“Sure. Come in and we can talk.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, not bothering to turn on a light. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. And I’m hurt that you didn’t tell me what was going on. I thought we could tell each other anything.”

I thought of all my youthful indiscretions that lay like old shoes in the closet of my mind. I hadn’t shared any of those. But I knew Gramps and I had a good relationship and there had been enough sharing between us to keep it strong. “I knew you had a thing with Mary Lou. I didn’t want you to have to be there when we tricked her. I didn’t want to be there either, and she wasn’t even my girlfriend.”

He hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head. “You can tell me anything. No girlfriend can ever change that. I hope no boyfriend of yours ever does either. I’m sorry this happened to Mary Lou. I don’t know what possessed her to go through all those lengths to cover it up. She’s a good woman, Dae.”

I knew he was telling the truth about Mary Lou. “I think she got carried away trying to save the turtles. She thought no one else could do it but her.”

“You know, she’s right. Once she’s gone, the group will fall apart, and the turtles will have to fend for themselves. There won’t be anyone as dedicated as she has been. But we all have to live with mortality and our mistakes. I waited an extra five years to retire because I thought my deputies needed me. I had to be hospitalized with that heart attack before I realized they could get along without me. The turtles will have to get along without Mary Lou. I’m sure they’ll survive.”

I swallowed hard. “Did you know Miss Elizabeth wasn’t dead when Mary Lou buried her?”

He nodded. “I’d hoped to spare you that information. The chief kept it secret because he wasn’t sure Miss Mildred was the right suspect. He’d hoped to use it to catch the real perpetrator. This can be an ugly business, Dae. I always tried to keep those awful details from you when you were growing up. I guess I still like to think I can protect you.”

I hugged him and kissed his forehead. “You can spare me those details anytime. I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep again thinking about her being out there still alive and no one knowing. It’s terrible to be so alone.”

“I know how you like to worry these things, darlin’. But you don’t have to think about it that way. You’ll never be alone. I guarantee it. Which reminds me, there was an awful lot of white makeup on Kevin’s shirt. I guess you owe him a new one, huh?”

Wednesday morning dawned bright and clear, and I was running late. I was surprised at first that I’d slept at all. I looked at the clock and realized I’d forgotten to set the alarm. It was after nine and the auction was at ten.

I hurried out of bed, glanced at my wig-flattened hair and groaned. Nothing that washing and some blow- drying couldn’t help. I showered quickly and gave in to my impulse to wear something bright and cheerful. I paired a