Grave Secret Page 0,19

one paid you to play a joke on us?"

"I don't play jokes, in case you missed that about me. I don't take money to make fake pronouncements. Of course I really saw that. It's not a likely thing to make up."

Lizzie had appropriated our little pad of paper by the telephone and the cheap motel pen to write down Victoria Flores's information.

"She switched locations recently," Tolliver said. "This is the right number, though." I looked down, not wanting my face to reveal how surprised I was.

After more reassurance and more repetition of the things we'd already said, the Joyce sisters were out our door and back on the road. I wondered if they'd spend the night in Dallas or try to make it back to their ranch, which would be quite a drive. They'd stay in some place more palatial if they were lingering in the area, I was sure. Probably had a Dallas apartment.

"So," I said, when the door had closed behind them and Tolliver had reseated himself at the table to finish his computer work, "Victoria Flores."

I didn't need to say anything else.

"I call her from time to time," Tolliver said. "Every now and then she hears something new. Every now and then she runs something down. She sends me a bill. I pay her."

"And you didn't tell me this-because?"

"You get so upset," he said. "I just couldn't see what purpose it served. When I used to tell you, every time she called, you'd get all upset. Every time, it would come to nothing. She doesn't call much now, maybe twice a year, and I just couldn't do that to you anymore."

I took a deep breath. My impulse was to launch into him. It was my business how I reacted to possible news of my sister. It was my right to suffer for her.

Then I had a second thought. On the other hand-Tolliver's hand-did it serve any purpose? Hadn't I been okay, not knowing? Hadn't I been calmer and happier, just waiting to locate Cameron in my own way? Was it not okay to have something done for you, some pain spared you, even if it meant you were ignorant about something that you considered your personal business?

Could that idea have gotten more convoluted?

But I knew what I meant, and I knew what Tolliver meant. And I thought maybe he was right. Or at least, it was okay that he had done that.

I nodded finally. He seemed relieved, because his shoulders relaxed and he blew out a breath. He sat on the bed to pull off his socks, then tossed them into our laundry bag, which reminded me that we were low on detergent.

I had ten little thoughts like this while I got ready for bed. I'd been reading through the novels of Charlie Huston and Duane Swierczynski, but it was like getting a jolt of caffeine if I read either one before bedtime; I definitely didn't need that tonight. Instead, I opened a crossword puzzle book. I crawled into bed in my soft sleep pants and my T, and I lay on my stomach, absorbed in the crossword. Tolliver was better at them than I was, and it was hard not to ask him questions.

Another exciting night in the life of corpse-reader Harper Connelly, I thought. And I was happy that this was so.

Chapter Four

WE were scheduled to take Gracie and Mariella skating that next afternoon, Sunday, but not until two p.m. On Saturday mornings they had to pick up their rooms and do chores before they could go anywhere, and on Sundays they had church and lunch as a family. These were ironclad rules of Iona 's. And not bad ones, I thought. I'd run and showered and was about to dress when Tolliver's cell phone rang. He'd been lazy and was still in bed, so I answered it.

"Hey, this must be Harper."

I recognized the voice. "Yeah, Tolliver's not up yet, Victoria. How's it going?"

Victoria 's great-grandparents had been the immigrants. Victoria, born and bred in Texas, didn't have a trace of an accent. "It's good to talk to you," she said. "Listen, nothing new on your sister, I'm sorry to say. I'm calling about the clients you-all referred to me. The Joyces."

"They already got in touch?"

"Honey, they already been here in my office and wrote me a check."

"Oh, good. But I can't take any credit for the referral. Tolliver was the one who told them your name and gave them your phone number."

"That's what