The Guests on South Battery (Tradd Street #5)(51)
I was already digging in my purse for the pack of emergency tissues I always carried. “I thought I’d wiped it off.”
“No need,” he said. “I got it all with my thumb. You must not have been wearing your glasses.” He’d said it lightly, but his words stung. I was already feeling old and dowdy next to Jayne, and I didn’t need him to highlight that I was quickly headed toward bifocals and a cane.
I looked pointedly at my watch. “I really need to get to work.”
He straightened. “Yes, sorry. A couple of things I thought both of you would be interested in. First, I went back to South Battery and really gave a good look around the perimeter to see whether there might be a hidden access point to the house where the cat could be getting inside, but no luck. I’ll keep looking.”
Jayne had begun to stretch, her forehead pressed against her knees, and Thomas’s voice faltered for a moment. I wanted to point out that the only reason she could do that was that she hadn’t given birth to two babies.
Refocusing, Thomas said, “And the phone number that had been assigned to the landline at the house is definitely disconnected. It must have been a crossed line coming from another phone, because that’s the only thing we could think of that would make sense. Not that crossed lines really happen anymore, either, but that’s as good a guess as we could make.” His gaze rested briefly on mine. “Just let me know if it happens again. The good news is that it doesn’t appear as if an intruder has been in the house. Still, you need an alarm system not just for your own safety, but also to protect all the valuables in the house. I have a contact in the business who can get you a good deal. If you like, I can set up an appointment for you. I’ll even be there with you if you want me to be. Not because I don’t trust him to give you a fair deal, but because I know you don’t like being alone in that house.”
“Yes,” Jayne said, nodding vigorously. “The house. It has a cat.”
I nudged her with my foot. I was beginning to worry that the children would never learn how to carry on regular conversations if this was what they heard all day. I made a mental note to make sure Jack, Nola, and I had lots of normal conversations in the twins’ hearing so they would know how nonawkward people spoke.
“Thank you. That would be nice,” she said before clamping her mouth shut and sending me a grateful grin.
Thomas continued. “I thought maybe we could use that time to also check the inventory you received from your lawyers just to make sure nothing is missing, and then possibly have dinner together.”
He’d said it with a casual tone, but I could tell he was holding his breath, anticipating her answer.
She swallowed and I could almost hear her lining up the words so that they were organized before they came out. “Thank you. That would be nice.”
She smiled and we both smiled back, all of us seemingly relieved that she’d managed at least one coherent sentence. JJ began to bounce up and down and vocalize his impatience at being kept still for too long. Jayne rubbed his head, then reciprocated with Sarah so she wouldn’t feel left out.
“Do you run?” she asked Thomas before turning abruptly and pushing the stroller into the street, then jogging away from us with a wave.
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “I think she meant to ask me if I was a runner while at the same time explaining that she needed to run. An economy of words. Very impressive.”
“I’ve had some very coherent conversations with her, so I think it’s just you,” I said.
“Great. Well, hopefully, after we’ve spent some time together, she’ll relax a little.” He stared after her for a moment. “I know we’ve never met before—I’m positive—but I can’t help thinking I should know her. Maybe she looks like a celebrity, and that’s why she seems familiar, you know?”
“Like one of those women on The Biggest Loser?”
He gave me an odd look. “I don’t think so. It’ll come to me—it always does. I’ll let you know.”
“Is there anything else? I really need to get to work.” I didn’t tell him that I had just enough extra minutes to stop by Ruth’s Bakery and get my doughnuts and coffee with lots of cream. I happened to know that Ruth was taking a few days off to visit her sister in Charlotte, and a cousin would be in charge and so had planned my day accordingly.
“Yeah,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. “Veronica came to see me yesterday and gave me this to give to you.” Holding out his hand, he let the broken chain with the Greek letter pendant dangle from his fingers. “She told me that your mother had called her to tell her that you would help solve her sister’s murder. She understands that you have other things going on in your life right now and she said she could wait. She’s waited twenty years already, so a little longer won’t matter. But she wanted you to have this just in case you forgot.”
Like I could. The memory of my mother speaking in the otherworldly voice was enough to scar me for life. I held out my hand and felt the cool metal fall into my palm. “Okay. I don’t know when I’ll be ready, but I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you. I know it’s a big thing to ask. And just to clarify, it was Veronica who suggested she go speak with Ginette—she’d heard about her from a friend, and trusted her because she knew you and had read about you recently in the paper when that whole business of who really owned your house came out a year or so ago. I’d never go behind your back. I need you to trust me on that just in case you do decide to work with me on future cold cases.”