“If what she states happened can be proven, it would certainly be considered self-defense,” Vera agreed. “The trouble lies in her leaving the scene without providing assistance.”
“Is that a law?”
Vera slowed for the turn onto Good Hollow Road. “To my knowledge there is no specific law that would require her to render aid. But there are moral and ethical issues. Societal expectations. That sort of thing. The right lawyer could make something of her decision to walk out. There could be a civil suit from someone like Geneva.”
“Geneva won’t stop until she finds the right lawyer to do just that.” Eve hissed her frustration. “I don’t know if Hayworth is it, but even if he only pokes around, it won’t be good for Luna.”
“The upside,” Vera pointed out, “is that no one else knows. For now. But as upset as Luna was while telling me, this thing is obviously weighing heavily on her conscience. She could break down and tell Jerome any minute now. If Geneva gets wind of this ... well, that would be bad. Really bad.”
“But Luna said the furniture was put back into place,” Eve argued. “There was no one else in the house. Jackie must have done it, which would mean she didn’t die until the second fall down the stairs, and Luna wasn’t there. Obviously the woman felt well enough to tug around nursery furniture. A crib and a changing table. Even a small dresser. How much damage could the first fall have done?”
“Valid points. Still, the initial injuries may have contributed to the second fall. Adrenaline after an event like that may have given her the strength to move the furniture around.” Vera shook her head. “Not to mention this is Luna’s version of what happened. We can’t technically confirm it. This is a slippery slope, Eve. Luna needs to keep it to herself.”
Silence invaded the line between them.
“The way we did about Sheree.”
That damned memory of dragging their stepmother’s body down those stairs flashed in Vera’s head. She glanced at the passing landscape that proclaimed she was nearly home. “Yeah. The way we did.”
Even after the world around them knew what they had done and no legal charges were deemed appropriate, she and Eve had still paid the price on a level that might never go completely away. The whispers ... the furtive looks. They would always be notorious for a mistake they’d made as kids ... for an event that wasn’t even their fault.
“What’re we going to do?”
Vera wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “In light of this new information, there are things I need to figure out. Like how exactly did Jackie get that fracture to her left leg if she didn’t hit that spindle. Clearly it wasn’t fractured before the second fall, or I wouldn’t think she would have been able to move that furniture around. Unless there was a whole hell of a lot of adrenaline flowing.”
“Unless,” Eve countered, “someone else came over and helped her.”
Vera stopped in the middle of the road. “Luna was gone for well over an hour, so that’s a definite possibility.”
“Maybe her husband came over belatedly to help, and she made the whole thing sound like Luna’s fault. He could have decided it was theperfect opportunity to be rid of her,” Eve harrumphed. “I don’t know how the man has put up with her all those years.”
Vera and Bent had already had this conversation. It was certainly possible. “The question is, Do we have a reason that suggests he would want to be rid of her?” Vera moved her foot from the brake back to the accelerator.
“I don’t know. She treated him like crap their whole marriage. Maybe he was done with her. I know I would’ve been.”
As logical as the argument was, without evidence it was nothing more than a theory.
“Luna has never mentioned her father-in-law being unhappy. From what I’ve seen he still bent over backward to make his wife happy even thirty-odd years into their marriage.” This was the big sticking point for Vera, no matter that spouses were typically the most logical suspect.
“That’s why you’re the detective and I’m a mortician.”
Vera laughed. “And you are a very good mortician.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“How is Suri enjoying her conference?” Vera felt bad for not asking about her before now. Murder was like that, always getting in the way of other things—like life.
“She’s enjoying the seminars, but she’s ready to come home.”
Vera grinned. “She misses you.”
“Yeah. Okay, I gotta go. Keep me posted. I’ll check on Luna when I’m done here.”
“Talk later.”
Vera ended the call and made the turn into her driveway. She and Eve hadn’t been this close since they were kids. Just one of the many benefits from moving back home.
The vintage Volkswagen Bus parked in her driveway was an unexpected and odd sight. Vera was reasonably sure she had never known anyone—didn’t know anyone now—who owned one. Had to be someone looking specifically for a Boyett—most likely her. It wasn’t like anyone just happened by the farm. It was way too far off the beatenpath. But just ask anyone in the vicinity, and they were happy to give directions. It was the way of things in the country.
