Susan scraped melon seeds from the fresh-cut crescents into the sink.
“And Russell,” I said.
“I’m older than he is,” Susan said.
I nodded. Susan rinsed the seeds into the disposal with the spray attachment.
“And I belonged, for lack of a better word, to another man,” she said.
“Me,” I said.
“Un huh.”
“So what,” I said.
“What other woman in his life would that describe?”
I thought of Tyler Costigan sitting in her elegant Luke Front penthouse talking of Russell’s “fat little momma.”
I drank a little more of my coffee. “Hello Jocasta,” I said.
Susan nodded.
“Dr. Hilliard convinced me that I needed to be alone, to experience myself, to stay away from you and to stay away from Russell.”
“But you couldn’t quite manage on your own, so you called Hawk,” I said.
“I was afraid,” Susan said. “I wasn’t sure Russell would let me. I think if I had told him I was going away he’d have done nothing to prevent me. But he wasn’t going to let anyone help me do it.”
“So Hawk came,” I said.
“And you know the rest,” Susan said. She placed each crescent on the chopping block and carefully cut the rind away.
“Well, some of the rest,” I said.
Susan nodded. She found some green seedless grapes in the refrigerator and rinsed them under the faucet in the sink and put them in a colander to drip dry.
“I don’t understand it all yet either,” Susan said. “I need to get back to San Francisco and see Dr. Hilliard.”
“Someone around here wouldn’t do it?” I said.
“We’d have to start over,” Susan said. “No. I’m too far along with Dr. Hilliard to leave her now.” Susan took a wedge of Muenster cheese out of the refrigerator and began to slice it thin with a. big-bladed carving knife.
“Can you sit tight until we get this thing settled with Jerry Costigan?”
“I won’t sit tight,” Susan said. “I will help you settle it.”
I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “That would be good.” I could smell the corn bread beginning to bake. Susan arranged her slices of cheese alternately on a large plate with her crescents of Cranshaw melon. She left the middle open.
“I don’t know when I’ll be able to sleep with you,” she said.
“Champagne’s as sweet,” I said, “whenever you drink it.”
Susan put the green grapes in the center of the plate. Hawk came from the bedroom still wearing his Walkman, poured some more coffee in his cup, looked at each of us and went back in the bedroom. Susan poured the rest of the pot into my cup and made some more.
“How are you going to find him?” she said.
“Rachel Wallace is coming up later and we’re going to talk about that. She’s been doing research for me. It’s how we found him the first time.”
“He’s an absolutely awful man,” Susan said. She opened the oven door and looked in carefully, studied the corn bread and then closed the door and straightened up.
“And his wife is worse,” she said.
“Russell’s wife said somewhat the same thing,” I said.
“You’ve seen her?”
“Yes,” I said. “She said Mrs. Costigan senior jerked her husband and son around any way she wanted.”
Susan nodded. “I have never met Tyler. She must hate me.”
“Yes,” I said.
“When Rachel Wallace comes,” Susan said, “I’ll sit in. Perhaps I can help by comparing notes with her.”
“Okay,” I said.
Susan checked the oven. This time she took the corn bread out and sat it on a rack. She set out three plates and knives and forks and white paper napkins. She put a hot plate out on the counter too, and put the second pot of coffee on it. Then using potholders she inverted the loaf pan and gently eased the corn bread onto a platter and put it on the counter next to the coffee.
“You’re willing to help me kill Russell’s father?” I said.
“Yes,” she said.
