“No.” Her cheeks blazed, although whether from embarrassment or indignation, Louisa wasn’t entirely sure. “I’m here on official police business.”
“Oh,” Louisa answered. “Anything I can help with?”
“That won’t be necessary, Dr. Linden,” she said stiffly.
“Suit yourself.” Louisa shrugged. “Can I get one of the interns to get you a coffee?”
“No, thank you.”
“Well, if you’ll excuse me then, I have patients to attend to.” Helga nodded and Louisa made herself scarce, a small smile curving her lips.
Olivia and Theo made it down to the parking garage without any other interference and before long found themselves on the road to Salem. The journey itself didn’t long, only about ninety minutes from Mercy.
She’d forgotten how much she liked Salem. She didn’t visit often, as it had always been a little too close to Mercy for comfort, but she had spent some time there promoting her books and being a guest speaker at the university. Despite her age, she was well respected in her field.
They finally pulled up in front of a single-story bungalow nestled behind a rusty wire fence. The shutters, once a vibrant red, had faded to an unpleasant dusky pink and the paint was peeling away from the wood. The lawn was brown and patchy. Weeds choked the ancient flowerbeds and littered the gravel path. The building looked so sad and neglected that as they opened the gate and walked slowly down the path, Olivia began to wonder if anyone still lived there.
Theo rang the bell, and they waited patiently. A few minutes passed by and nothing. Olivia tried again, and still they waited. Nothing. Theo stepped back off the stoop and looked toward the windows.
“The place is in a state of disrepair. Maybe she no longer lives here,” Theo mused.
“I guess.” Olivia stepped back off the stoop to join Theo.
Suddenly, the front door creaked open and an old woman stood on the other side of the screen door.
Olivia stepped back up to the door. “Mrs. Talbot?”
“Who wants to know?” the old woman rasped.
“Mrs. Talbot, my name is Olivia West, and this is my friend, Theodore Beckett.”
“West?” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Olivia.
“We were wondering if we could speak to you about your son, James.”
Her gaze moved from Olivia to Theo and back to Olivia before she pushed open the screen door with her twisted walking cane.
“Better come in then,” she said by way of invitation before turning slowly and shuffling back into the darkened room.
She walked slowly, hunched over her cane and dragging a wheeled cylinder of oxygen behind her. A long, translucent tube ran over her oxygen tank, hooked over her ears, and then under her nose. She lowered herself into a well-worn chair and primly tucked her flowered dress around her knees before taking her patchwork blanket and laying it across her legs. Taking the TV remote from the table next to her chair, she lowered the volume, then patted her hair as if to make sure it was still in place.
“Please, take a seat.” She motioned for Olivia and Theo to sit on the couch opposite her. “You look a bit like him,” Mrs. Talbot said after a moment of staring at Olivia.
“Pardon?”
“You’re Charlie Connell’s daughter, aren’t you?” She tilted her head. “I’d heard the West girls always take their family name rather than their father’s.”
“It’s a bit of a unique family tradition,” Olivia murmured.
“You take after your mother, there’s no doubting that, but you’ve got a lot of Charlie in you too.”
“How did you know my father?” Olivia asked.
“He was a friend of my Jimmy.”
“He knew James?”
“That’s right. Matter of fact, my Jimmy was best man at your parents’ wedding.” She smiled in remembrance. “Come up through high school together, thick as thieves they were, the three of them.”
