'Good God!' I said.
'I know,' he said. 'I know.'
'You must have had some success,' I said. 'He played football.'
'Yes, God, she hated that.'
'You teach him?'
'No, not really. The only thing I did, I got a box at Foxboro. I took him once to see the Pats play the Jets. She had a fit. I never took him again. Doesn't seem like such a fucking crime.'
'You ever teach him to shoot?'
'Jesus, no,' he said. 'His mother would have ... no. I never taught him to shoot.'
'Somebody did. He and the Clark kid fired thirty-seven rounds and scored on twenty of them.'
Grant didn't say anything.
'You shoot?' I said.
'I know how. I was in the service.'
'Own a gun?'
'Revolver,' he said. '.357 for plinking burglars.'
'No semiautomatic weapons?'
'No. Revolver's so much simpler,' he said. 'And six rounds is enough.'
'Why do you think he did what he did?'
Hollis sat for a time, looking at his fist resting on the tabletop.
'I don't know,' he said. 'I think Wilma blames me. I suppose I sort of blame Wilma.'
He shook his head.
'Is there a Mrs. Grant?' I said.
'No.'
'Was there?'
'Yes.'
`And what happened to her?' I said.
'She left.'
'When?'
'June twelfth, 1993.'
'You know where she is?'
'No.'
'Do you know if she's in touch with her grandson or her daughter?'
'No.'
Spenser, grand inquisitor, give him a few minutes and he can find the topic to shut off any conversation. Maybe if I moved on.
'You said Wendell was hard to be close to. Why was that?'
'His mother filled his head with crap. I mean, she's my daughter, and I love her, but her head got filled with crap by her mother. Not the same crap, but she was fucked up, and she fucked up her kid.'
'What did Wilma's mother fill her head with?'
'Ladylike,' he said. 'White gloves. Dinner parties. Her mother filled her head with silly shit, and Wilma rebelled.'
'And filled her head with rebellious silly shit,' I said.
'Yes.'
'Have you seen Wendell since the shooting?'
'No. '
'Because?'
'His mother has denied my access.'
'Do you know Lily Ellsworth?' I said.
'Yes. Old money. Everyone knows Lily.'
'She feels her grandson is innocent. She hired me to prove it.'
'How you doing?' Grant said.
