"I'm going home," I said. "To eat dinner with Meghan and Erin."

He didn't look very happy. "Are you sure?"

"Positive"

"Okay. I'll call you later." He knew when to back off.

I stood up and walked to the door.

He followed. "Are you still willing to help me?"

"Help you what?"

"Find out a little more about Ariel Skylark? Just get some people to gossip about her? No one seems to want to talk to us."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Just gossip. Nothing else. You know, no obvious questions," he said. "You can be subtle when you want to."

"I don't get it," I said. "You hate it when I snoop. What's with the sudden change of attitude?"

He looked nonplussed. "Well, you're pretty good at finding things out."

I waited.

Turning both palms to the ceiling, he said, "All right. Here's the thing. Your yarn was the murder weapon, so I can't be the lead on this case even though I have seniority over Robin in the department. So she's the lead, and she loves it. She's good at investigating, but darn it, she questions people like she's killing snakes. Especially when she's excited about getting the answers. Not a lot of finesse, you know?"

I nodded. "Oh, yes. I know exactly what you mean."

Detective Lane and I had had our difficulties a few months back as I tried to convince her to investigate a poisoning. I admired her abilities, and liked her well enough; eventually we'd called a tentative truce. However, the more time she spent in Cadyville, the more pig-headed she seemed to become.

"So will you put some of that Reynolds charm to work for the common good?"

Oh, brother. Talk about charm. Sheesh.

"Maybe," I said.

He inclined his head. "I guess that's all I can ask for."

He kissed me then. Despite the post-fight awkwardness, I still felt the same thrill as always. Damn.

I opened the screen and began walking out to my Toyota. A few steps down the sidewalk, I turned around. He stood in the doorway.

"A lot of money?" I asked.

"Uh huh."

"Just how much is a lot?"

He licked his lips. "Two million," he said. "Give or take."

The blood drained from my face. "Yeah. That's a lot," I croaked.

"Each" He flushed when he said it, as if embarrassed. Knowing Barr, he probably was.

"Right. Uh, well, congratulations. Bye." Dumbfounded, I walked to my vehicle, got in, and started the engine. I drove home like a zombie.

Holy crap. No wonder Hannah was on the prowl.

SEVEN

I FOLLOWED THE SOUND of voices around to the backyard and found Meghan, Erin, and Ruth Black seated at the picnic table. The scent of lime-and-garlic-marinated shrimp lingered on the still-warm air.

Meghan greeted me. "Hey there. How did it go?"

"It was… odd," I said. "Hi, Ruth."

"Hello dear."

"Go get some dinner," Meghan said.

"It smells delicious. I'm surprised there's any left."

"There wouldn't be if I hadn't hidden yours away in the kitchen."

I held up a finger. "Be right back."

In the kitchen I discovered not only crustaceans grilled to pink perfection, but a pile of grilled asparagus and the remains of a gorgeous summer salad. Harvest continues late into the fall in the northwest, but can start slowly due to damp, cool springs. But lettuce, radishes, baby carrots, scallions, and various herbs were abundant in June. Meghan had added sprigs of chickweed gleaned from weeding our organic beds, a few succulent dandelion leaves, and a sprinkling of violas. I could have feasted on how pretty it was. Theoretically, at least. I added a light lemon and olive oil vinaigrette to the salad, piled shrimp and asparagus onto a stoneware plate, and returned to the group sitting in the backyard.

I slid onto the cedar picnic bench. Brodie waddled over and sat by my foot, making corgi noises in his throat. Now that I had food, I was back on his A-list.

Across the table, Meghan leaned forward, anticipation all over her face. "So? Who was she?"

I glanced at Erin, an even more petite version of her mother, and asked, "How was math camp today?"

"Fun enough," she said. "We played with Mobius strips. Mom already told us some strange woman was at Barr's house today, and you went over there to yell at him about it. So don't try to send me inside or anything."

Meghan suddenly became inordinately interested in one of our hens pecking at the tray of oyster shell in their pen. What a gossip, I thought, surprised. Maybe Barr should have asked for her help instead of mine.

"It certainly does sound like you've had a full day," Ruth said.

"That's putting it mildly." I took a bite of salad. Something peppery in there. I peered at my plate. Ah. Nasturtium leaves. I swallowed. "I either won't sleep at all tonight, or I'll sleep like the dead."

Meghan coughed.

"Oh, God. Not like the dead, I mean, you know…" I rubbed my forehead.

"Whatever," Erin said. "So who was the lady at Barr's house?"

"We don't want to pry," Ruth said. "But we want to know you're okay."

So Meghan had told her, too. I couldn't blame her.

"I'm fine," I said. "It turns out he did tell me about Hannahthat's her name, Ruth. But I didn't realize they were married."

"He's not actually married now, is he?" Meghan asked.

"No, it all happened several years ago, and apparently only lasted a couple months."

"Then what's she doing here now?"

Between bites, I told them most of my conversation with Barr up until I walked outside his house. Then I found myself growing silent.

"So Barr's rich?" Erin asked.

"I guess," I said, reluctant to talk about it further. Now I understood why he'd had such a hard time telling me about his sudden wealth. The idea of having that much money bordered on the obscene.

Both Meghan and Ruth seemed to sense my unwillingness. "Are you happy with his explanation?" Meghan asked.

I hesitated, then said, "I think so."

"You know what you should do, to put it to bed once and for all?" Ruth asked.

"What?"

"You should do a background check on him. Then you won't wonder. I bet Meghan's beau would give you a discount."

My lips parted in surprise. Who knew Ruth was so mercenary?

"Meghan?" she prompted.

"Well," Meghan said. "I guess I could ask Kelly about it."

Kelly O'Connell was Meghan's sort of boyfriend. The sort of part was mostly because he lived in New Jersey. They chatted on the phone for hours every night like school kids, and there'd been talk of him moving out to Cadyville once he got his private investigator's license in the state of Washington.

Hmmm. I considered the idea. It really would make me feel better to know for sure, to stop wondering if Barr was keeping anything from me. Call it trust issues if you want to, but I'd never before thought of myself as one of those walking wounded who couldn't get close to anyone. I just didn't want to be stupid.

"Will you talk to him about it tonight?" I asked Meghan.

"Urn." Her reluctance was palpable.

"You think it's a bad idea, don't you." "

11 It's not up to me."

"Yeah, but…"

She hesitated, then, "Is that the kind of thing you want to base your relationship on?"

After a few moments, I met her eyes and shook my head. "No. You're right. It's not. I'd hate it if he did something like that to me, and if I went ahead with it, I could never take it back."

She smiled her approval.

Ruth shrugged and changed the subject. "I brought a spinning wheel for you to practice on."

"The one from the co-op?" I was surprised she'd been allowed to remove it from the crime scene.