Sara gave a little laugh. “’Fraid it has all come to a permanent standstill. Happened too long ago to find out anything now, and besides, Sheriff Flynn was threatening us that we had better stop. I’ve decided to use the work we did as inspiration for a new book.”
Alastair was sitting between them and Kate looked around him to stare wide-eyed at Sara. She was certainly good at lying!
“So what do you have to show us?” Sara asked.
Alastair leaned back on the couch. “My mother found a high-school clipping that I’d like to show you.” He turned to Jack, who was frowning in the kitchen. “Actually, I came to see you.”
It was a moment before Jack looked up to see them staring at him. “Me?”
“Yes. Last night I had dinner with my mother and three of her lady friends. I don’t mean to sound elitist, but they are all rich widows, and they don’t like condo living. Too many young people, too much noise. They’ve decided that they’d like to buy your houses, all six of them. After you’ve remodeled them, of course. And they’d like to buy some more houses there, too. For more friends. They also want one of the houses made into a kind of gym-cum-spa and to put in a pool. Basically, they’ve dreamed up a retirement living community, but where they get their own homes instead of being cooped up in apartments.”
Through all this, Jack had been listening with his knife aloft. He put it down and grabbed his crutches. “Kate! Finish this up. And add some more veggies. Alastair, would you please stay for dinner? It’s not much but we’ll do our best.”
Kate got up, and as she passed Jack on her way to the kitchen, she murmured, “Money sings a new song.”
Jack was smiling at Alastair too broadly to pay any attention to her snarkiness. Minutes later they moved to the outdoor kitchen and the big grill. Jack went with Alastair and left the women to bring out the food and drinks.
Once they were outside, Jack became the ultimate host. He crushed ice in a big blender and made a pitcher of margaritas. He served Alastair first.
“This is a nice layout.” Alastair swerved around on his stool to look at the pool and covered lanai. “Mom and her ladies would love this. When I lived here—” He waved his hand. “You don’t want to hear about the olden days.”
Kate and Sara were sipping their drinks. “We’d love to hear.”
“Everything in the house was very formal. Mom was raised in a family in Philadelphia that sat down every night to a dinner with three forks. To her, the Florida lifestyle was almost too informal to bear.”
“And now?” Kate asked.
“She’s adjusted well. Yesterday I had lunch at her condo and each plate had just one fork—with a bamboo handle!”
“Downright decadent.” Kate was looking at him over her glass.
“And what about Hamish?” Sara was on a stool beside Kate.
Alastair shrugged. “You know what Dad was like. He was at home anywhere. Very easygoing, affable man. Everyone liked him.”
“That’s true.” Sara was smiling in memory. “He used to visit Cal and me at our houses.”
No one said it aloud but the thought that the man who’d grown up in the Stewart Mansion would visit the run-down houses of the Wyatts and Medlars said a lot about him.
“He sounds nice,” Kate said.
“And so is my mother,” Alastair said. “Except when she’s nagging me to get married and give her grandchildren. Then she’s a terror.”
There was silence as Alastair and Kate smiled at each other over their drinks.
Jack’s voice, so loud the birds stopped singing, broke the silence. “So how much say do you want in the remodeling? If you buy the houses, that is?”
Alastair whirled his stool to face him. “I’d love to say none. From what I see of this place, I’d give you carte blanche. But four rich widows with empty days... Sorry, but I’m sure they’ll drive you insane. Think you can handle it?”
“Easily,” Jack said.
“Mind if I look at this?” Sara asked. The envelope he’d brought was on the bar.
“Please do,” Alastair said. “I think I should warn you that Sheriff Flynn has kept my mother informed of everything he knows.” He looked at Jack. “Sorry to tell you this, but your stepmother and grandmother have practically camped out in his office. They want Roy’s name cleared. And Gena Upton has come out of the woodwork to set herself up as someone who needs 24/7 protection. She suggested Deputy Pete for the job.”
“The hunk at the desk,” Sara said.
“That’s the one. Anyway, once the sheriff gave us a date for the murder, it was easy to find out where I was at the time.” When Kate started to speak, he smiled. “It’s okay. It didn’t take much deduction to realize that every person in the school is a suspect. But then, everyone on the planet who was alive then remembersthatweekend.”
