That’s called playing the we-we card. And nobody did it better than my mother.”
“I don’t have to play it. I’m already living the dazed and confused part,” Riley said. “And I’ve just about cried my tear ducts dry.”
“Hang in there,” Parrish said, giving her a hug. “We’re gonna get you through this, together. Evelyn’s not going to make things easy, though.”
“She tried to dictate the arrangements,” Riley said. “By the time I got to the funeral home, she’d already called Miles Kenton and picked out the casket.”
“Dear, thoughtful Evvy,” Parrish said. “What exactly did she have planned?”
“You know. Mahogany casket with bronze mounts, funeral sprays, two days of family visitation. Your standard overblown three-ring circus. If Mama had her way, we’d have Wendell lying in state under the gazebo on the village green.”
The two friends shuddered in unison.
“I put the kibosh on all that crap,” Riley said. “Wendell will be cremated, we’ll have a short, simple service in the chapel, and then private interment in the family plot. It sounds cold, I know, but I just want this ordeal over with.”
“You leave it to me,” Parrish said firmly. “If you want, I’ll take care of everything.”
“Really?” Riley felt herself tearing up. “That would be amazing. Mama will have a fit, but…”
“I can deal with Evelyn, and she’ll never know what hit her.”
Riley’s cell phone rang. “It’s Roo,” Riley said to Parrish. “Hello?”
“Thank God you’re home. I’ve been trying to call you all morning,” Roo said. “Your mama and Maggie went into town first thing this morning, and I’m the only one here. You’ve got a visitor waiting.”
“I’m at Parrish’s. Could you please tell whoever it is that I’m not up for company today? I’ll sneak around to the back door. Just tell them I’ve got a headache or something.”
“I can’t,” Roo said, her voice fraught with anxiety. “Come right away and bring Parrish with you. It’s a G-man!”
* * *
As soon as Parrish pulled the golf cart up to the front steps at Shutters, Aunt Roo came scuttling out of the dim recesses of the porch. She met Riley at the bottom step.
“I told him you were staying with a friend, and I didn’t know when you’d be home, but he said he’d just wait,” Roo said. “What do you think the FBI wants with you, Riley?”
“Probably just some questions about Wendell’s death,” Parrish said.
“Oh. Right.” Roo seemed disappointed. “He’s mighty young looking. I didn’t think they hired boys that young to work as G-men, so I made him show me his badge. It looks like the real thing, though.”
“Tell him I’ll be right in, would you please, Roo?” Riley said.
“So it’s true,” Riley said, as soon as her aunt had gone inside the house. “The feds really are looking into Wendell’s business dealings.”
“You don’t know that,” Parrish warned. “Maybe it really is about his murder.”
“You’re not talking to my elderly aunt, here,” Riley said. “The FBI doesn’t normally get involved in homicides. I remember that much from my reporting days. I can’t do this by myself. Will you come with me? You’re a lawyer. You know how to deal with this kind of stuff.”
“I haven’t practiced criminal law in years and years,” Parrish reminded her.
“You’re a lawyer, that’s all I care about.” She turned pleading eyes on her best friend.
“All right.” Parrish relented. “Have you got any money?”
“What? No! You know I’m broke.”
“Give me a dollar,” Parrish said. “That’s my retainer. Now you’re my client and everything you tell me is privileged. If you really want me to help, you need to just keep quiet and let me see what we can find out from him.”
Riley took out her change purse and dumped the contents into her friend’s outstretched palm. “Here’s seventy-five cents. I’ll have to owe you the rest.”
* * *
The visitor was in the living room, seated on an oversize tufted Victorian sofa. He stood when the two women walked into the room. He was compact, with an athletic build and neatly combed brown hair, dressed in pressed and starched blue jeans, an open-collared shirt, and a navy-blue blazer. He was very young, Parrish decided. Like, right out of the academy young.
“Mrs. Griggs?” He looked from Parrish to Riley, unsure who was whom. He split the difference and extended a hand with a business card between the two women. “I’m Special Agent Aidan Coyle. Sorry to drop in unannounced. I tried to call ahead, but your phone didn’t seem to be turned on.”