“Addison,” she said, nodding. “I went to your wedding. It was real nice of you to invite everyone like that. But I guess now that you’re rich you can afford to do things like that.”
“My husband is rich,” I said, smiling. “I’m still just me.”
“Of course, it would’ve been nicer had that poor FBI agent not gotten shot,” she said. “It seems like bad people just follow you around. My grandmother always used to say that you’re known by the company you keep.”
I smiled again and put my hand up to my forehead to block the sun as I looked up at her. “Do you know Vince Walker?” I asked. “He and Mom got married last year. I’m sure you’ve seen him around the yard.”
“I know Vince,” she said. “He’s a Walker. And Walkers built this town. That’s his family’s distillery Scarlet Holmes gave you.” Edna pressed her lips together. “I remember Scarlet when I was a girl, and it’s a miracle there’s any man left in town to call property his own.”
I couldn’t really dispute the truth. Scarlet had always said God wouldn’t have made her beautiful and savvy if he hadn’t wanted her to take over the world.
“When was the last time you saw Vince?” I asked.
“About three days ago,” she said. “Before the crack of dawn. Looked like he was loading his truck down for a trip.”
“Did he say anything to you?” I asked.
“He told me good morning. He always does.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “Then he said he was taking a fishing trip for a few days, and to keep an eye on things here for him. That’s ridiculous, of course, I can’t spend twenty-four hours a day watching over the neighborhood.”
I thanked her and wished her a good day, and then I walked toward the shed. The garage was my mother’s domain. When I was a kid, that’s where she’d done her Jane Fonda workouts and watched TV if my dad was home and had the house TV occupied. The shed and the garage were strictly adult zones, though Phoebe and I had tried to look in the windows from time to time. Entrance was forbidden, which made us want to see inside all the more.
When I was sixteen I’d gotten my shot. The door had been left unlocked by some miracle and Bobby Wallace and I had snuck in to have a major make-out session. Since Bobby Wallace had been the quarterback of the football team, the captain of the swim team, and there was a rumor going around that the bulge in his Speedo was all natural, it seemed like the chance of a lifetime.
What I didn’t know, and would have if I’d understood context clues, was that the door was unlocked for a reason. Bobby was barely past first base when the door slammed open and a gaggle of cackling women barged in. My mom played bridge on Sunday nights, and she and the ladies had decided to make a trip for ice cream in between games.
I’d been so hot for Bobby I hadn’t noticed the wine glasses or the table set up with cards. Unfortunately for Bobby, his mother got an eyeful and he got shipped off to military school for the rest of his senior year. No one had seen him since.
That experience had cured me of ever wanting to see in my parents’ private sanctums, and I never tested my luck again.
When I reached my dad’s shed, I was relieved to find the door locked. The way my mother had talked, it sounded like we’d be ready for war at a moment’s notice. I trudged back to the house and my mother opened the door before I got there.
“What did Edna have to say?” she asked, looking both ways before quickly shutting the door behind me. “She knows something is up. She’s been looking over her fence all morning.”
“She said she hasn’t seen Vince in three days, and he told her he was going fishing.”
My mother snorted. “I’m telling you, that man has never fished a day in his life. Hunting and fishing are his least favorite things to do on the planet. He said he hunted humans for most of his life, so he has no desire to do it to animals.”
“I guess I can see his point,” I said. “But I needed a timeline and Edna gave it to me. You didn’t hear him leave? He didn’t leave a note?”