“Don’t cry.” Kay was obviously distressed. “I didn’t intend to be disparaging, but, frankly, you are so young and pretty, it’s hard to take you seriously.” She clapped a hand over her lips, looked appalled. “Did I say that? How many times was I treated like that when I was your age!” She shook her head in bewilderment. “Of course you aren’t that age, even if you look it. How confusing is that?”
My, a seal of approval from Wiggins and a compliment and an apology from Kay. I felt like giving another Rebel yell, but settled for a pleased smile. “‘No offense meant, none taken.’”
Her laughter was genuine and appreciative. “Anyway, you’ve done excellent work.” She bit her lip, flashed me an impish glance. “For a pretty young woman. Okay.” Her smile fled. “If Shannon pushed Jack, she’d try to steer suspicion to someone else. Do you suppose she knew about Ryan?”
I drank the fizzy club soda, slowly shook my head. “She’d have told me, especially if she was trying to implicate Gwen.”
Kay stirred the ice in her Coke. “Paul was circumspect when I asked about Shannon. She’d been a client. I asked the circumstances. He said the matter had been settled and he wasn’t at liberty to discuss it. When I got back, I checked with Evelyn. She was more forthcoming. When Shannon was fourteen she rammed her bicycle into a teenage boy who was throwing rocks at a cat. She knocked him down and he ended up with a broken nose and five stitches in his chin. His parents sued. Jimmy got his dad involved. The suit was settled. Evelyn didn’t know whether James had provided money, but she thought so.”
It was my turn to murmur “oh.” “Hotheaded. Impulsive. Lacks control.”
Kay glanced at the notebook. “Shannon’s not the only one with a temper. Paul said Evelyn is quick to anger, slow to forgive. The Castle matters more to her than people. She takes enormous pride in the art collection. Although she dutifully responds to charitable requests, her gifts are respectable, but not overly generous. She never hesitates to spend several hundred thousand for a painting or sculpture that she wants.”
I was puzzled. “How can art matter that much to her when she has such poor vision?”
Kay shrugged. “Pride of possession? Perhaps having Alison describe a work and knowing that the painting hangs at The Castle is enough. Maybe the art collection gives meaning to her life. Paul said Evelyn was resentful, angry that she’d never met anyone to love, that she’d spent her time caring for her father without any support from her brothers.”
Kay glanced again at her notes. “As for Diane, Paul said she’s timid, easily flustered, affectionate, and vulnerable. Paul thought it was a shame Jack hadn’t dislodged Laverne and Ronald. He said”—Kay’s eyes met mine—“that Diane would fight to the death to keep them at The Castle.”
I remembered Diane’s pitiful “I’d rather die” when she spoke of losing Laverne. “When a weak person is backed into a corner, the response can be vicious.”
Kay said briskly, “‘Dangerous if threatened’ sums up Diane. Jack had no intention of easing up on the Phillipses.”
“Wouldn’t Diane wait until she was certain he could prevail?” I had no doubt Diane was desperate to keep Laverne near, but I thought the threat would have to be certain before she would act. “Is she decisive enough for preemptive action?”
Kay was thoughtful. “For all we know, Jack may have spoken to Diane Saturday evening. I think she would have to be absolutely desperate to commit murder.”
“Paul’s take on Jimmy?”
Kay’s face softened. “Jimmy reminds me of Jack when he was young. Paul feels the same way. Although”—her tone was suddenly dry—“unlike Jack, Jimmy’s been a one-woman man since he and Shannon went on a Halloween hayride in middle school. Shannon is volatile and known to flirt. In fact, she dated another guy last summer.” She paused. “Jimmy slouched around looking morose. That’s when he took up hang gliding.”
I quoted Coleridge: “‘And constancy lives in realms above; And life is thorny; and youth is vain; And to be wroth with one we love, Doth work like madness in the brain.’”
“The old boy had that one right.” Kay’s words were flippant, but her eyes were somber with understanding. “Yet, when you talked to Jimmy, nothing he said suggested an effort to implicate anyone else.”
“Unless”—I felt sad making the suggestion—“he was artfully making clear the extent of Shannon’s unhappiness with Jack. In fact, he may be a wily murderer and still very angry with Shannon. What did Paul say about Margo?”
“Beaten down. She grew up in Adelaide in modest circumstances. She was nineteen when Jack came back for James’s wedding. Jack gave her a big rush and then he met Gwen. He dropped Margo. Later, she married a rodeo cowboy, Rollie Taylor. Shannon was born the next year. Margo followed Rollie on the circuit for a half-dozen years, but he ran around on her. They had a bitter divorce and she got a pretty good settlement. He was a big prizewinner. A few years ago, he was paralyzed when he was thrown from a bull. He needed money. She told him nothing doing. After the divorce, she worked part-time, went back to school, and got her degree. She was a flight attendant for American for a half-dozen years till all the layoffs. She came back to Adelaide because her mother, Phyllis, had Alzheimer’s. Phyllis had been the housekeeper at The Castle for fifteen years. Evelyn and James were happy to have Margo take over her mother’s job and that made it possible for Phyllis to stay here until she died last year.”
Kay drew a string of question marks across the top of her pad. “Margo must have been furious when Jack came home and spent time with Shannon.”
I nodded. “She was angry enough to slip Ryan Dunham’s photograph under Jack’s door. My guess is that after you came, she took the photograph from his box.”
Kay was puzzled. “Why not leave the picture there?”
I had an idea. I hoped I wasn’t right. “Did Paul appraise Margo’s character?”
Kay shot me an irritated look. “Do you take special pleasure in non sequiturs?”
Possibly my swiftness of thought wasn’t appreciated. I resisted the temptation to quote Damon Runyon: “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” However, I felt Kay’s patience had reached its limit. “Someone called Gwen, clearly to set her up for blackmail. The caller may have been Margo.”
“Would Margo commit blackmail?” Kay shrugged. “I don’t think she’d try to get money. That might not be the point. Maybe she wants to turn the screw a little tighter on Gwen.” She wrote on her notepad. “Paul was fair, but
