a point on it, but I’ve gone a lot of years without baking a pie, and I see a lot more in my future.” Tracy saw a switch and flipped it so the overhead light came on. “Come on, let’s see if we can find it.”
“You just want to see if I’m telling the truth.”
Tracy supposed that was a little bit true. But mostly she just wanted Wanda to go home. “What does it look like?”
She listened as Wanda described the dish, then she started opening cabinets. Glasses in one, just a few, which gave her a pang. Some plates in another, a few saucers and bowls. More pangs. No need for enough dishes to entertain, she guessed.
“Did Mr. Krause have any friends?” she asked. “You knew him better than I did. I guess, more important, did he have family? Because the funeral home took his money, but not his information.”
“Memorial, right? Somebody at work told me Memorial will be after me soon enough, too. They probably got to Herb and didn’t take the time to do the thing right. Busy canvassing everybody over fifty who hasn’t laid down their money.”
“So do you? Know anything about him?” Tracy asked. Her search had turned up nothing, but as she watched, Wanda pulled a ceramic pie plate out of a cupboard, followed closely by a lid that looked like the top crust of a pie.
“Well, here it is.” Wanda held it out. “Close enough to my description for you to believe me?”
“I never accused you of trying to steal his pie dish. That chip on your shoulder must tip a lot of scales. You just surprised me by being here in the dark, rummaging through his cupboards.”
“I didn’t want to have to go into the whole story.”
“I guess you don’t want to tell me if he has friends or family, either. So I’ll have to play detective, maybe? Give me something else to worry about?”
“You having a little pity party over there by the sink? Don’t worry none about inviting me.”
“Glad you found the pie plate. You can let yourself out.” Tracy went back into the living room, snapping on the lamp so the cottage was now aglow.
In the bedroom, she stood in the door with her hands on her hips. The mattress was a double, maybe even a queen size. She was going to have to drag it on its side and hope it didn’t flip one way or the other as she maneuvered it through the rooms.
She heard footsteps, and Wanda came to stand in the doorway.
“He never said much about himself,” Wanda said. “In answer to your question. Not that I care whether you have to play detective, but Herb deserves a little peace.”
“What did he say, do you remember?”
“I think he said he was from Florida. Never said exactly where, though, or if that meant he’d been born in the state. I got the impression he’d lived a few places in his time, something of a wanderer.”
“He never said anything about family?”
“Uh-uh. And I never saw any, either.”
“Friends?”
“He did play chess in Grambling Park with some other old men. I saw him there a couple of times, when I was on the way to the grocery store. Never said nothing about it to me, though.”
“Were you interested?” Tracy knew she should be asking herself the same question. “Never mind. I wasn’t. Why should you have been?”
“I did bring him that pie.” Wanda sounded defensive.
“And last week I took him some mail the carrier stuck in my box by mistake. That’s about the sum total of my interaction with the guy.”
“What’ll they do if you don’t find somebody to take charge?”
Tracy had no idea. Was it up to her? Was she the next-best thing to next of kin because she owned the guy’s house? “I guess if nobody comes forward, I’m going to have to go through his papers. You know. To see what I can find out.”
“Guess you didn’t know what you were getting into when you took this job.”
“I didn’t take it. It was handed to me. And trust me, it’s not a barrel of laughs.”
“Is that what you’re here for? To look through his things?”
“I’m here to drag the mattress out for the trash pickup tomorrow. He died on the bed. It’s got to go.”
“You’re going to do it by yourself?”
“I was planning to.” Tracy waited, hoping, despite herself, that Wanda would volunteer to help. Between them, they could make short work of it.
“That’s a big