Tips for Living(38)

I loosened my robe. Suddenly the room had turned warm and airless.

The special report ended and I surfed more news channels. None of them reported progress on the case. My cell buzzed again from the bedroom. I dashed back to answer it, disappointed that the ID said Lizzie. I hesitated. I wasn’t eager to talk to her after Sinead’s revelation that she’d been gossiping about my divorce, but it might be something important about work. I picked up.

“Hello, Lizzie.”

“Where are you?”

“Home.”

“I’ve been calling and calling. You looked so upset at Eden’s yesterday. I was starting to worry when you didn’t answer.”

“No need.”

“Well, it’s a zoo here. People are dropping in to ask questions every few minutes. Basically, they just want to talk because they’re flipping out. There were satellite vans along Pequod Avenue with reporters filming people’s reactions. It looks like they’ve left. But the phones don’t stop. It’s so nuts in here, no one can concentrate. Ben went home to make calls and see if he could wring out any more information from the DA before he writes the front-page story. He gave me seven hundred fifty words on Walker’s career, but I can barely get any work done—”

I interrupted. “Is that why you called, Lizzie?”

“Oh. Well, no. Ben just phoned and said to tell you not to come in. You know, to take some time to process all this. I’ll cover you.”

I felt a twinge in my chest. Why hadn’t Ben phoned to tell me this himself?

“Thanks for letting me know,” I said, and then it just popped out. “And thanks for gossiping about my marital history.”

“Me?”

“That’s what Sinead said. Why would you do that, Lizzie?”

Lizzie went silent for a few seconds. Then she groaned.

“I guess I did say something.”

“But I specifically asked you not to.”

“I’m so sorry, Nora. It was the day you told your divorce story. That night Danny and I had a stupid fight over the invitations to our wedding reception. He stormed out, and I kept thinking about you and your ex. How you’d been together for so long before you made it official. Just like us. How it could end so miserably. Just like that. I was upset and went to the Tea Cozy and got a little loose. Sinead wouldn’t let me drive. She took me home. We were talking and it slipped out.” She paused. “I’m really sorry. Really.”

I heard a car slowing down outside.

“So, you weren’t just gossiping about me then,” I said, walking to the window.

“No! I wouldn’t. I feel awful.”

“That feels better.” I sighed. “Let’s just forget it. I hope you and Danny are back on track.”

“We’re great.”

“That’s good. This should be a happy time for you both.” I pulled aside one of the curtains. “Oh no.”

“What?”

“The press.”

One, no . . . two white TV vans already sat at the edge of the driveway, and two more cars were pulling up.

“Shit. There’s a small army out there.”

Altogether, nearly a dozen people spilled out of the various vehicles. They were from the city, judging by their mostly black clothes. Some had long-lens cameras hanging from their necks. Two men lugged video packs. One labeled CNN, one FOX.

“What are you going to do?” Lizzie asked.

“I don’t know.”

I felt cornered. I stepped back from the window and let go of the curtains, frustrated that Hugh had succeeded in turning my life into tabloid trash again from beyond the grave. But did I deserve it this time?

“Why don’t you give me the exclusive?” Lizzie asked.

“Exclusive what?”

“Interview with you. I’ll come over and tell them they’re too late—we have a contract. You aren’t allowed to answer any questions except mine.”

“I’m not giving interviews, Lizzie. I want less publicity, not more.” I peeked out the window again, dismayed.

“Unless you talk to them, they’ll probably be there until the police announce they’ve caught the killer.”

I winced. Lizzie could be tactless. “Great. I’ll be ordering in food then.”

“FYI. I do know one thing about whoever did it,” Lizzie said. “It was someone they knew.”

Only the police and the DA’s office had that information. And Ben.

“Ben told you that?”

“He didn’t have to. It’s obvious. There’s no mention of a robbery in the police statement. Random ‘break in and kill the rich in their mansions’ murders don’t go with the zeitgeist—too Charles Manson. We’re in the era of public executions: Sandy Hook Elementary, the Aurora movie theater. That church in Charleston. It has to be someone they knew and let into the house. They had no idea they just invited their killer in.”

I had an unpleasant thought. I tried to ignore it.

“Nora? Did you hear me? Don’t you think I’m right?”

Was Lizzie trying to imply something here, or was I paranoid again?

“They knew whoever killed them,” she repeated.

I couldn’t contain myself.