Page 91 of A River Red With Blood
“What’s the right time?”
“Summer; fall if you’re a leaf peeper or hunter, but I don’t equate hunting with pleasure; and winter if you like the snow.If you live here, the right time for pleasure is never.”
Behind her was a picture of Mallory Norton, with the usual police contact details underneath.I’d missed it the night before, when it was temporarily obscured by packs of cigarettes waiting to be added to the rack.
“Where do young people go for fun?”
“They go someplace else,” she replied, “and the farther away, the more fun it is.Don’t take this wrong, but you may be too mature to qualify.”
I showed her a copy of my PI’s license on my phone and assured her that I hadn’t even liked hanging out with young people when I was young myself.
“Is this about Mallory Norton?”
“Do you know her?”
“Not well, but it’s a small town,” she said.“Everyone knows everybody.”
“Where would she go for fun?And please don’t say ‘someplace else.’”
“I guess she did what most of us do: hang out at friends’ houses when their parents aren’t around, or head down to the river.”
With a few beerswent unspoken.
“Does,” I said gently.
“What?”
“Shedoeswhat most of us do.Notdid, not yet.”
It took a couple of seconds for her to grasp my meaning.“Does, right.”
“You said you ‘guessed’ that’s what she does.I’d say you were close to her in age, and like you told me, this is a small town …”
“She kept—keepsto herself.Some kids just do, you know?Mallory’s nice, but quiet.I think that’s what most people here would say about her.”
The peace was broken by a flurry of arriving customers.I thanked her for her time, told her I’d hold off on buying a house in the area, and ate my sandwich by the water.I opened the tracking app to check on Kenney and Teal, but their vehicles hadn’t yet left home for the day.I was going to be occupied in the Kennebec Valley for a day or two, so I called Tony Fulci and instructed him on uploading the app to his phone.I gave him my log-in and password and asked him to keep an eye on Kenney and Teal.I assured him he didn’t have to walk around with the app open, since it would advise him of any movement.But if they deviated noticeably from their home-work-home routine, or if the two men met, I wanted him to call me in case I was working and missed the alert.
“How’s Faith?”I asked, once we were both satisfied that he knew what he was doing with the app.
“She has a sister,” said Tony.
“What does that have to do with anything?Wait, you’re notgoing to try dating both of them?I’m no expert, but that strikes me as a recipe for domestic disharmony.”
“Not for me, for Paulie,” said Tony.“They haven’t met yet, but Faith and I are working on it.I’d like Paulie to find someone, like maybe I have, and Faith thinks her sister is lonely.”
“And it also means you won’t have to face your mother alone when you tell her you’ve got a girlfriend,” I said.
“You know, I never thought of that,” said Tony, in the offhand manner of a man who had indeed thought of that.
“Your mother might even be happy for you.”
“Stranger things have happened,” said Tony, this time in the manner of a man who couldn’t conceive of what those things might be.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Faith and her sister would take one look at Mrs Fulci, make their excuses, and leave, but Tony would have taken that into account too.It was why he’d wait as long as possible before any introductions, in the hope that Faith’s affection might have deepened enough not to be terminally rocked by her first contact with Mrs Fulci.I wished them all the best of luck.
Chapter 90
Sabine Drew had advised against visiting Spero during teaching hours.Based on what she’d learned from Tim Sadlier, staff at the school were stretched as it was, and there was no point in my presence being more disruptive than necessary.It seemed redundant to tell her that I made my living being disruptive, and necessity was in the eye of the beholder, but I’d leave it until later in the afternoon before driving out to the school.I had plenty to occupy me in the meantime.
