“Three of them?”
“Charlie, Jimmy, and Tommy,” she nodded. “They met in middle school, and from that moment on, they were inseparable.”
“Tommy?” Olivia replied, a sudden uncomfortable knot tightening in her stomach.
Mrs. Talbot nodded her head in the direction of the fireplace where several dusty framed pictures sat on the mantle. Olivia wandered over, moving a portrait of a young smiling James Talbot out of the way. Her attention was fixed on a picture of three grinning young men, wearing bathing suits and standing by an old wood cabin in front of her lake, their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders.
They looked so young and innocent, barely more than eighteen years old. She picked the picture up and wiped a layer of dust off with her finger. The young man to the left was unmistakably her father, and for a moment, her heart clenched at the sight of the man she had once loved. Beside him stood James Talbot, and as her eyes fell on the third man, her mouth fell open in shock.
“Tommy.” She turned back to the old lady. “Thomas Walcott?”
“What?” Theo’s eyes widened as Olivia handed him the picture. “Chief Walcott?”
“That’s right.” Mrs. Talbot nodded. “Went into law enforcement, though he was only a deputy when my Jimmy passed.”
“So.” Olivia rubbed her temples, trying to organize her thoughts. “James originally came from Mercy.”
“That’s right, born and raised,” she replied. “We moved to Salem when his father got transferred because of his job. Jimmy had lost his job and was living at home at the time, so he moved with us. He wasn’t too pleased about that, let me tell you. Your dad had already married your mom and was busy with you. They didn’t see each other as often as they’d like, but Tommy and Jimmy, they were really close, and they both took the separation hard.”
Something in her voice when she spoke about the two men had Olivia looking back at the picture again. Although all three boys had their arms around each other’s shoulders, her dad was the only one looking directly at the camera. Jimmy and Tommy were looking at each other.
“Who took this picture?” Olivia murmured thoughtfully.
“I believe your mama did,” Mrs. Talbot said. “That was the summer they all turned eighteen. Your mom and dad had not long started seeing each other.”
Olivia continued to stare at the picture. “Mrs. Talbot, I don’t mean to pry, and I certainly don’t want to seem insensitive, but I get the feeling there was more to Tommy and Jimmy’s relationship than just friendship.”
Mrs. Talbot pursed her lips as she regarded Olivia and Theo.
“Please, Mrs. Talbot, I’m not trying to stir up trouble. I just need the truth. I need to know what happened all those years ago.”
“Why? What possible good can it do now?”
Olivia turned to Theo, and he nodded.
“Because they never caught the killer, and the murders have started again.”
“Are you in danger?” the old lady asked bluntly.
“I don’t know.” Olivia shook her head. “But I’m tied to it somehow. I need to figure out what happened all those years ago.”
Mrs. Talbot sighed. “I guess there’s no one left to protect anymore.”
“Tommy and Jimmy were lovers, weren’t they?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, they loved each other, and Charlie, he kept their secret,” the old woman admitted.
“My dad knew?”
“Of course, he did,’ she coughed again. “He covered for them so they could be together. Stolen moments... that’s all they had... stolen moments.”
“Why didn’t they just come out?” Olivia asked. “Homosexuality was no longer illegal by then.”
“It may have been legal, but in a small town like Mercy, even in Massachusetts,” Mrs. Talbot scoffed, “they wouldn’t have been accepted, though I think my Jimmy would’ve taken the chance, even if it meant losing his father.”
“His father?” Olivia repeated.
Mrs. Talbot shook her head. “Don’t misunderstand me, my husband was a good man, older than me, and although I learned a lot from him, he came from a different generation. He would never have accepted Jimmy being in love with another man. In fact, Jimmy didn’t even tell me.”
