She stopped the machine and made a careful note, then got up to check on Bingo. Only his eyes were visible as they glowed in the darkness.

Creeping forward on her stomach, Skye called, “Here kitty, kitty. Bingo, it’s okay, sweetie.”

He didn’t even blink.

After trying food and his favorite toys to lure him out, Skye said, “Fine, stay there. I never knew you were such a ’fraidy cat.”

She returned to the kitchen and played the last message.

“This is Karolyn. I’m calling for Superintendent Wraige. He would like to see you Monday at one to discuss the Clapp matter.”

Shit, shit, shit! I still haven’t figured out a way to keep my job and my integrity. What am I going to do?

Skye was surprised by her cousins’ easy acceptance of her invitation for brunch. She had always felt a misfit among her family. At parties the conversations centered around children and housekeeping, subjects to which she could contribute little.

The twins had both married before they turned twenty and produced children shortly afterward. Skye was graduating from college while they were changing diapers. She was leaving the Peace Corps when they were sending their firstborns to kindergarten. It was almost worse with Victoria, whose only focus was to be invited to the right parties and belong to the correct country club.

Making an effort to drown out her thoughts, Skye put on a Patsy Cline CD and turned the volume high. At least she had gotten instructions from her cousins for washing up deer blood. And maybe the brunch would give her a chance to get closer to them.

After mixing the cleaning solution as directed, Skye took a brush and set to work.

Skye had a date with Simon the next day. He was picking her up at nine and they were going to spend all of Saturday together. She got up at seven so she’d have time both to get ready and call her mom.

May answered on the first ring. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. In fact, I took your advice about asking the twins how to clean deer blood.”

“That’s great.”

“Of course I didn’t tell them the real reason I was asking, so make sure you don’t tell either.”

“Why would I say anything? I’m just glad to see you talking to your cousins.”

“Actually, I went a little further.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, well, I, ah, invited them over for brunch tomorrow. Victoria, too.”

“That’s great. Maybe you’ll all get to be closer now that you’re home.”

“I hope so.”

“What are you serving?”

“I’ll start with mimosas and Bellinis.” The champagne drinks were sure to loosen tongues. “Next, cantaloupe bowls with fresh fruit and quiche. And your famous lemon silk sherbet with dream bars for the perfect ending.”

Simon arrived precisely on time, looking cool and elegant in khakis and a short-sleeved denim shirt. Skye wore a denim skort and striped polo shirt.

After Simon gave Bingo the appropriate number of pets and scratches they got into Simon’s Lexus.

Hand on the wheel, Simon asked, “Where to, my lady? Your chauffeur awaits.”

“Are you sure you don’t have somewhere in mind?”

“Nope, it’s up to you.” Simon smiled and took her hand.

“Well, last time you let me choose, you didn’t like it, but if you’re truly a man of your word…” Skye trailed off, watching his reaction.

Simon’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the instance she referred to. “One qualification: nothing illegal.”

“Okay, I can live with that.” Under her breath Skye added, “Probably.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“Go visit a little old lady.”

CHAPTER 20

How I Wonder What You Are

One of the reasons Skye needed to talk Simon into going to see the old nurse was because she was afraid to drive in Chicago. She mostly blamed this on her lousy sense of direction, although sometimes she wondered if it wasn’t really because May had frightened her when she was a teen with stories of all the awful things that took place in big cities.

Simon’s voice broke through her reflections. “What’s the address?”

“It’s 11502 Avenue D,” Skye read off a slip of paper.

He reached into the pouch on the door and withdrew an atlas of the city and surrounding suburbs. After studying it for several minutes, he inserted his business card to keep his page and placed the book between them. “That’s on the south side. A changing neighborhood, as they say.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that at one time it was a mostly working-class Polish area, but about ten years ago poorer minorities started moving in and the whites moved out. The elderly were pretty much left behind.” Simon started the car and guided it out of the driveway.

“Why?”

“Most of them hung on too long and when they finally wanted to move, the value of their houses had decreased so much they could no longer afford to go. Because they were on fixed incomes, they had nothing more to add to the pot.” He drove steadily, exiting onto Interstate 55.

“I figured Esther is anywhere from sixty to eighty-five. Minnie’s friend said Minnie was a senior when she went away, so she must have been about seventeen or eighteen. She’s fifty now, so this whole thing took place about thirty-three or four years ago. But if what you say about the neighborhood is true, Esther’s probably on the older end of my estimate.”

“Let me get this straight. You want to find this woman because she took care of your aunts thirty-three years ago when Minnie had a breakdown. Right?”

“Right. I’d like to know more about what everyone calls a breakdown. There are a lot of mental states that could refer to.” Skye watched as he skillfully maneuvered through the thick traffic.

“And you need to know this because…?” Simon trailed off.

“Because I want to know if Minnie has a history of mental illness that would suggest she is capable of harming either herself or others.”

“You still question whether she really attempted suicide?”

“Yes, but if she did, she’s certainly a prime suspect for having also killed Grandma.” Skye was surprised at the lump that gathered in her throat and the sorrow she still felt over her grandmother’s death.

They drove in companionable silence, listening to a classical music station that Simon favored. At first Skye knew where she was, but after the third change of highway she became hopelessly lost.

When Simon finally exited onto 103rd Street, it looked as if they had traveled to another country. Signs were in Spanish, Polish, and languages she didn’t recognize.

A few turns and Simon stopped the car in front of a detached two-story home. Its siding appeared to be made of gravel and tar paper. The windows and door were heavily barred.

They climbed steep concrete steps, holding on to the black metal railing. There were two bells. Neither had a name. Skye looked at Simon, who shrugged. Taking a guess, she pressed the bottom bell and hoped for the best.

They waited. They could hear shuffling sounds that seemed to grow nearer. Finally the front door was flung open, leaving the barred storm door between them and the woman on the other side.

Her size and age were hard to determine because she was bent over with a dowager’s hump on her back. She leaned on a cane and scowled.

Skye felt herself rushing to find the right words. “Hello, my name is Skye Denison and this is my friend Simon Reid. We’re looking for Esther Prynn.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you Ms. Prynn?”

“I don’t go for that Miz crap. I’m Miss Prynn. Have been for the last seventy-five years and will be on my tombstone.”

“We’re from Scumble River. I understand you did some private duty nursing there back in the sixties.” Skye made herself sound more sure of her facts than she was.