“That’s okay, Frank, I needed the exercise. And I know about the trip to Phoenix.” I looked over at Pete, who sat on the couch with a suitbag next to him on the floor. “Hello, there, Pete. I talked to Rachel this morning. She told me you were going to be visiting there.”
“Oh, yeah? So how come you were talking to Rachel? You had to call her at home — it’s her day off.”
“Pete — let her at least have a minute to get settled,” Frank said. “Have a seat, Irene. You want something cold to drink?”
“Thanks — water would be great.”
He walked off to the kitchen. Once again his powers of recovery amazed me. He was moving around much more easily, his facial bruises were fading and the swelling from the broken nose was way down.
Pete tapped his fingers impatiently while Frank was away.
“Excited about your trip?”
“Hey — I thought we declared a truce about this subject.”
“My, aren’t we touchy? That wasn’t a question about Rachel.”
“The answer is yes, and the reason is obviously Rachel and you know it. So don’t try to weasel your way around me, lady. You broke the truce, so fair is fair — what’s up with you and Frank?”
Just then Frank came back into the room and handed me a glass of ice water.
I smiled. “Thanks, Frank. Now what was that you were asking?”
Pete colored. “I asked how come you were calling Rachel on a Sunday at home?”
“Oh, is that what you wanted to know?” I took the longest sip of water I could without drowning.
“Must have been thirsty,” Pete muttered.
“I was.”
Frank looked between us, suspecting something but not able to figure out what was going on.
“Anyway,” I continued, “I called Rachel to ask if she could convince Elaine Tannehill’s mother to get in touch with me.”
They both looked up with interest. Pete leaned forward. “And?”
“And she did.” I turned to Frank. “That’s partly why I was late.”
“Never mind that,” Pete said impatiently. “Why did you want to talk to her mother?”
“Because I had a little idea I wanted to follow up on. I wanted to know if she remembered any of the people who used to come to Elaine’s parties when Jennifer was around. As I talked to her, I also remembered that there wasn’t a phone out at Jennifer’s mom’s trailer. So I asked Alberta Owens — that’s Elaine’s mom — how the girls kept in touch. Turns out they were great letter writers.”
“Why didn’t I think of that!” Pete exclaimed. He looked over at Frank, who was grinning with satisfaction.
“What’d I tell you, Pete?”
“I never said she was dumb, Frank — just maybe too smart for her own good.”
“I understand English, so you don’t have to talk like I just left the room. Besides, it was a pretty useless idea, as it turns out. Alberta Owens said she doesn’t think Elaine kept any of the letters.”
Pete sat back. “I’m telling you, it’s going to be hell trying to figure out who’s behind this. I think we should stick with the more recent stuff. Someone is very good at tying up loose ends, and you can be damned sure they were just as neat and tidy thirty-five years ago.”
“You ever find anything out about the accident Emmet Woolsey’s wife was in? Who was the witness?”
Pete and Frank exchanged glances.
“What?” I asked.
“The file is missing,” Pete said.
It really wasn’t a surprise. As Pete said, the killer was good at cleaning up messes. How difficult would it be for someone on the DA’s staff to remove a case file?
“I wonder if your brother-in-law has remembered anything.”
“Ex–brother-in-law. You’d be surprised what he can forget,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
Frank and Pete both looked at me in mild surprise.
“I think I’ll pay him a call when I get back from Phoenix,” Pete said. “How’s he doing?”
“He’s out of intensive care,” I said, managing this time to keep my tone more even.
“Hey, that’s great.” Pete said, grinning. “I’ll bet your sister’s happy.”
The doorbell rang, saving me from making a response. It was Pete’s taxi. He picked up his bag and said good- bye.
Frank and I walked back to the living room and sat next to one another on the couch.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.
“What makes you think anything’s wrong?”
