‘Why, what happened then?’
‘I got a phone call from Michael. He knew that I’d killed Austin, of course.’
‘How?’
‘Because he was Michael. The man knew everything, I swear.’
‘How do you know he wasn’t just bluffing?’
‘Because he told me he was in possession of a bloody mackinaw shirt. I asked him to hold on for a moment and ran out the back door. Sure enough, someone had dug up Paul’s mackinaw and taken it.’
‘Who?’
‘Hoagy, I truly don’t know.’
I mulled it over. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Colin Fielding keeps an old spook buddy on retainer to do his dirty work for him. Fielding has forty billion reasons to keep Michael happy. As long as Michael’s happy, the governor’s happy. Whoever the guy was, he must have tailed you home from Mount Creepy. What did Michael say to you when you got back on the phone? Did he intend to turn you in to the police?’
‘Oh, heavens, no. He had something much more insidious in mind. He intended to hold it over me.’
‘Hold it over you how?’
‘He wanted me to marry him.’
‘You’re kidding me.’
‘Trust me, I’m not. He said he’d been drawn to me for a long, long time. He thought I was lovely, spirited and warm-hearted. Someone he felt comfortable with. He told me that he would enjoy nothing more than to help me raise my children and to make them happy. Make all of us happy. And that if I accepted his proposal he’d never breathe a word to anyone about what I’d done to Austin.’
‘Unreal.’
‘No, absolutely, totally, one hundred percent real.’
‘So what was your response?’
‘Total shock, at first. Then I wanted to laugh. The idea of me marrying that pale, trembling scarecrow was utterly preposterous. Just the thought of seeing him naked made me shudder. But it would not have been wise to insult him, and I knew it, so I said, “This is much too important to talk about on the phone.” He agreed and suggested I drop by later that night. We could talk candidly because we’d be all alone. Connie Pike always went home after she’d finished his dinner dishes and he’d dismissed his security detail and sent them on their way.’
‘OK, now this part starts to make some sense.’
‘What part?’
‘He stopped by here when I came home from the hospital to apologize on behalf of his family for what had happened to Lulu and me. I figured he’d be relieved that his life-long nemesis of a kid brother was dead. Far from it. He was still utterly terrified. Trembling same as ever. When I asked him why, he told me he was convinced that Austin’s killer would come after him next. But then he turned right around the next day and dismissed his security detail. He even treated the guys to a trip to New Orleans. Which made no sense, but now it does. Because when he came to see me he didn’t know it was you who’d killed Austin. Fielding’s spook hadn’t dug up Paul’s bloody mackinaw from your yard yet. Perhaps you’d been sticking around the house a lot and didn’t give him the opportunity.’
‘I did stay close to home, now that you mention it.’
‘It’s also possible that Fielding and the governor had to strategize about whether or not Michael would be better off knowing or not knowing – strictly as it related to the governor’s own political health and well-being. Once they decided to tell him, Michael promptly dismissed his security detail. He felt he no longer had any reason to be afraid. He certainly had no reason to fear you. After all, he intended to marry you, right?’
‘That’s right. I said I could come over after the kids went to bed, at perhaps ten o’clock, unless that was too late. He said no, it would be fine. He usually retired early but for me he would wait up, and leave the front gate open.’
‘You drove over there last night after the kids went to bed?’
‘I did.’
‘They didn’t hear you leave?’
‘My oldest, Max, did. I told him I was restless and felt like taking a drive down to the beach to look at the moon over the water the way his dad and I used to. Max thought nothing of it. They’re so self-absorbed at that age. When I arrived at Michael’s, the front gate was open and there were no more ex-Green Berets around, just as he’d said. I rang the doorbell. He opened the front door dressed in an old flannel bathrobe, pajamas and slippers, which I found profoundly weird but …’
‘He was a Talmadge.’
‘Indeed. If he chose to greet me in his jammies, so be it. He said, “Welcome, my dear. This is a momentous day for both of us, is it not?” I agreed that it was. I was wearing an old dress that I’d been meaning to get rid of. It’s very low cut, not that I have a lot to show off.’
‘You’ve got plenty to show off.’
She kissed my cheek. ‘You’re so sweet. I made sure I unbuttoned my coat before I rang the doorbell so he’d get a good look. I also made sure I dabbed on a great deal of essential lavender oil so that he’d think I was in a romantic mood.’
‘Which was a huge mistake on your part.’
She furrowed her brow at me curiously. ‘How so?’
‘Lulu picked up the scent out on the driveway, followed it up the front steps to the door and raised quite a ruckus.’
‘But I’m wearing it right now. Why didn’t she start barking her head off the second I walked in the door?’
I glanced over at her again in her chair. She had that same alert, watchful expression on her face. ‘Because she knows I invited you here. She’s being cagy. Very cagy.’
‘Not possible. Dogs aren’t capable of that level of
