"Together?"

"I think Sue ran off with a truck driver who came into the restaurant, and a couple days later Mary joined up with some surfers driving up the coast. Or maybe it was down the coast, I don't remember. We weren't close or anything. They were hippies."

"But you split the money with them."

"Sure, they worked."

"Even split?"

Long inhalation. "No, why should we? I contracted the whole thing. And Tom and I ended up doing all the cleanup."

"How much did you give them?"

She mumbled something.

"What's that?"

"Two-fifty."

"Two-fifty for each of them?"

Nod.

"Leaving four thousand for you and Tom."

"They didn't complain. They were happy to get anything."

"Doris, too?"

"Why not?"

"She doesn't seem like a very happy person."

"You'd have to ask her about that."

"We will, once we find her. Where did Tom take her, two nights ago?"

She wrung her hands and let loose a stream of filthy words. Cursing Sherrell Best for spying on her.

"Where?" I said.

"She needed a ride to the airport, so he took her."

"Vacation for her, too?"

She didn't answer.

"Gwen," I said wearily, "if you want to talk, fine. If not, you're on your own."

"Give me a chance," she said. "This is hard, remembering all this stuff… Okay, she decided to split town. She got nervous after you came asking around. She thought you were Best's son- we all did. Raking things up again. She didn't want the hassle."

"Nervous about her role in the cover-up."

"It wasn't like that. Like I said, there was no big plot. We just…"

"You just what?"

"Kept our mouths shut. Can't catch any flies that way."

Bitter smile.

"Did Doris see something the rest of you didn't?"

"Maybe- okay, okay, but it's not any big deal. She wasn't even sure herself. It was probably nothing."

Another tug at the bodice.

"What did she see, Gwen?"

"It was- she put the kids to sleep, left to get a drink. When she got back, one of the kids was gone and the door to the outside was open. She went out looking, finally found the kid wandering around in back; there were a lot of trees, paths. And all these other cabins. Like a big summer camp- it used to be a nudist colony. The kid was spaced out. When Doris picked her up, she started babbling. About bad men, monsters, hurting a girl, something like that. Doris figured she was having a bad dream and took her back. But when she put her in bed, the kid started screaming, woke up the other kid, and got that one crying too. Doris said it was a real hassle, they were really making noise. But with all the music from the party, you couldn't hear it. Finally got them both quiet."

"What made her suspect the kid might have really seen something?"

"When Karen didn't show up and I told her the same story I told the others."

"What was that?"

"That she hated her father and he was coming out to bring her back home, so she was going to split town."

"The others believed it, but Doris didn't?"

"She said Karen had told her she liked her father."

"Did Doris tell the others that?"

Headshake. "Lenny was into plants, real stupid; he'd believe anything. Mary and Sue were hippies; they hated their folks."

"So Doris kept her story to herself."

Shrug.

"Why didn't you tell them Lowell's story about the fight?"

"I told you, he didn't want any of that getting out. Nothing that could connect Karen to him. Actually, he made up the other story as a replacement. At first he said to say her father abused her. I didn't make it that strong."

"Why not?"

"It just wasn't right- too much."

Looking at me, as if for praise.

"So the others bought it," I said, "but Doris didn't. And she started to wonder if the little kid had seen something happen to Karen."

"She didn't know anything for sure, but she came to me and told me about finding the kid. Kind of thinking out loud."

"Wanting more than two fifty."

Silence.

"How much did you give her?"

"Seven fifty more."

"One thousand total. How much did she think Lowell gave you?"

Hesitation.

"It's just a matter of time before we find her and ask her, Gwen."

"Two and a half thousand," she said very softly.

"So she thought she was getting more than you. When did she realize you'd held back on her?"

"She didn't."

"Then why are you still paying her off?"

"Who says we are?"

"The police. And Tom was there to pick her up and take her to the airport. There's obviously some relationship there. Do she and Tom have something going?"

She laughed. "No, he hates her."

"Because she's got a hook in you?"

"It's not like that."

"Not like what?"

"Blackmail or anything like that. She just comes to us when she's broke- its like charity. She's got… a problem."

"Compulsive gambling."

Her head snapped up. "If you know everything, why do you need me?"

"How long have you been financing her addiction?"

"Off and on. Most of the time she's okay, but then she goes off drinking and gambling and wipes herself out. So we help her- it's a sickness."

Remembering the boys on the lawn, I said, "Does she ever win?"

"Play enough, you're bound to. One time she won big. Fifteen thousand at craps in Tahoe- fifteen thousand. Next day she blew it all at the same table. We feel sorry for her. She's Tom's first cousin, used to baby-sit him. After she got married, she started drinking and gambling."

"How much have you given her over the years?"

"Never added it up, but plenty. She probably could have bought a house, but she doesn't care about normal things- that's why her husband left her. We help her 'cause she's family."

The room was cool but she was sweating, and her mascara started to run. She grabbed a tissue from a box on the desk and took a long time to wipe her eyes.

I understood Doris's hostility to her and Tom, now. The rage of the charity receiver.

"Okay?" she said. "Is that enough for you?"

"Where did Tom take her?"

"To the airport."

"Where did she fly?"

"I don't know. And that's the truth. She just said she wanted to get out of town for a while. You spooked her. She was worried you'd rake things up."

"Did she feel guilty about never telling anyone what she'd seen?"

"How would I know?"

"Did she start drinking and gambling after the party or before?"

"Before. I told you, it was right after she got married. She was only seventeen, then she had her kids."

"Two boys," I said. "One in Germany, one in Seattle."

She looked away.

"What's the name of the son in Seattle?"

"Kevin."

"Kevin Reingold?"

Nod.

"At what army base is he stationed?"

"I don't know, somewhere up there."

"She's your cousin and you don't know?"

"She's Tom's cousin. They're not a close kind of family."

Glancing at Travis, trying to open the box. But the plastic wrap was tight and his fingers struck at it uselessly.

I peeled some plastic back. He laughed and tossed the box in the air. Again, I retrieved it.

Gwen was staring at the shelves.

"So Tom dropped her off," I said, "then caught a plane to Mexico City."

The box dropped again. This time, Travis rejected it, shaking his head and arching his back. I gave him a can of surf wax and he began rolling it between his palms.

Gwen burst into tears and tried to stop them by pinching her nose.

Travis held up the can and shouted, "Aa-ngul!"

She looked at him, first with anger, then defeat. "This is stupid. You've got me feeling like a criminal and I didn't do anything."

"How much more money did you get from Lowell?"

"Nothing!"

"One-shot deal?"

"Yes!"

"How often have you seen him since?"