kitchen and started rummaging around in the refrigerator.
“Maybe you could start at the beginning,” I told my mom after she’d tasted her first bite of cake.
“I told you,” she said, shrugging. “Vince is stepping out on me with some two-bit ho from Miami. I don’t know how he met her. We’ve never been to Miami. When I suspected him of cheating, I did a Google search and I found a list of signs that your man is cheating on you. He’s been taking frequent trips to see his buddies,” she said, holding a finger up. Then she put up a second finger. “He’s real secretive about his phone, and he’s always texting.” Her third finger popped up. “He’s spending money without telling me. I used to be an accountant. Does he think I don’t check the bank balances and credit card statements? What kind of dummy does he think I am?”
She burst into tears and laid her head down on the table. I felt bad for her. I really did. My parents were devoted to each other, but I wasn’t ever sure they had a happy marriage. What she had with Vince had felt like the real thing.
“You’re not a dummy,” I assured her. “If he’s cheating on you then we’re going to get the proof.”
“Yeah,” Rosemarie said. “And then we’re going to get revenge. I set Roger’s car on fire.”
“I remember that,” Scarlet said. “That was a real doozy. It takes real skill to make a fire that lasts with that kind of heat.”
“Thank you,” Rosemarie said, pinkening slightly. “I watched a video. The key is to get some magnesium and sprinkle it all in the car first. It makes the flames real pretty.”
“Good Lord,” Suzanne said, shaking her head. “I cannot be privy to this. You know who’s gonna go to jail if we get caught planning a revenge car torching. And I can’t go to prison. I’ve become accustomed to the creature comforts in life.”
Rosemarie rolled her eyes. “You grew up with the creature comforts in life.” Then Rosemarie looked at me and said, “Suzanne’s parents live two doors down from Nick’s parents.”
“Oh,” I said. And then I grinned and Suzanne laughed.
“I’m a rebel,” she said. “I’ve got mommy and daddy issues, and my therapist says I’m acting out by dressing as a woman.”
“I don’t know why you’re paying that therapist all that money,” Rosemarie said. “That seems kind of obvious to me.”
“I like the company,” Suzanne said. “He’s a good conversationalist.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” my mother said. “But maybe we could get back to my cheating husband issues.”
“Right,” I said. “How long do you think the affair has been going on?”
“I don’t know anything right now,” mom said. “We’re still newlyweds. How can he be tired of me already?”
I shot Scarlet a look to keep her from commenting, and she gave me the signal of zipping her lips.
“He started off by just acting distant,” mom said. “I figured he had something on his mind, but thought he’d talk about it eventually. I was married to a cop long enough to know when to let things simmer and when to poke and prod.
“But Vince isn’t like Charlie. He’s always been very open about his life and career. I mean, we’ve known each other thirty years, so he was really just filling in a lot of the blanks. I’ve not really touched your father’s office since he died, but I did go in a few years ago and box up all his old papers and anything personal, and I shoved it in the closet.
“Vince decided to turn the room into his man cave, so he started cleaning things out and getting his electronics set up.”
Porn, I saw Rosemarie mouth out of the corner of my eye, but I kept my attention on my mother.
“I mean, Vince and Charlie were as close as brothers for a lot of years,” mom said. “So I figured he started seeing all of Charlie’s stuff and it made him sad. Vince even slept in the office that night. He completely shut me out.
“I thought everything had gone back to normal when he took all of your father’s things and put them out in the shed with his other stuff. Lord, Charlie was a packrat. He had boxes of old case files, body armor, bullets, guns…you name it. If they made something new for law enforcement, then he had to have it. It’s all out there.”
“You’ve got guns in the shed?” I