What were the odds? Luke wondered. The question had plagued him all night and still nagged at him this morning, a tiny spark that could ignite a forest fire if he didn’t stomp it out.
Dots. They were the bane of his existence. The compulsion to connect them in order to find patterns was an addiction.
Don’t go there, he thought. You do not need this problem. You’ve got enough of your own. You’re supposed to be trying to get your life back together. That’s a [_full-time occupation at the moment. _]
Maxine ladled coffee into a paper filter. “After her aunt took her away, there was a lot of talk around town about how Irene had probably been traumatized for life.
Folks said she would never be the same after that night when she found her parents on the kitchen floor. They said she would never really be normal, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” Luke said softly, “I know what you mean.”
Maxine watched Irene with worried eyes. “I overheard Mrs.Holton telling everyone that finding Pamela’s body last night might be too much for poor Irene after what happened in the past. She said it might push her over the edge.”
Luke watched Irene walk past the window, heading toward the front door of the lobby. Her face was set and resolute. Not the expression of an unstable woman who was about to go off a cliff, he decided. More like the face of a woman with an agenda.
The door opened. Irene walked into the room, bringing another wave of the crisp morning air with her.
Good morning didn’t seem appropriate under the circumstances, Luke thought. He searched for another, more suitable greeting.
“Hey,” he said. Who said he couldn’t do social repartee?
She smiled a little, but her eyes were wary and watchful. “Hello.”
“Get any sleep last night?” he asked.
“Not much. What about you?”
“A little.”
So much for small talk, he thought.
“Irene.” Maxine grinned at her from across the room. “Remember me? Maxine Spangler. Maxine Boxell, now.”
“Maxine.” Irene’s smile widened. “Luke said you were working here. I thought you were going to leave town after you graduated.”
“I did. Went off to community college to study business and accounting. Got a job in the high-tech industry and, wait for it, married Mr. Perfect and had a son.” Maxine rolled her eyes. “But things didn’t quite work out. I got laid off. Mr. Perfect left me for his yoga instructor, and then Mom got sick. I came back here with Brady, that’s my son, to take care of her.”
“How is she doing?”
“She died about six months ago.”
“I’m so sorry,” Irene said gently.
“Thanks.”
“I remember your mother. I liked her. She was a friend to my mother.”
“I know,” Maxine said.
“You decided to stay on here after your mother died?”
Maxine hesitated. “To tell you the truth, Brady wasn’t doing so well in a big city high school. When his dad walked out he sort of fell apart. Grades began to slip. He started to get into trouble.”
“I understand.”
“What with one thing and another, I decided that maybe he would do better in a small town like Dunsley. He seems to have settled in fairly well. His grades have improved. Also, he’s got a couple of good male role models. Sam McPherson lets him ride with him in the police cruiser sometimes and takes him fishing. Luke, here, is teaching him how to maintain the lodge’s boat so that he can take the lodge guests fishing on the lake in the summer. Brady’s real excited about that.”
“I see,” Irene said. She gave Luke a long, considering look.
Luke got the feeling that he was being weighed and judged.
“Listen, about Pamela Webb,” Maxine continued. “I know it must have been tough on you, finding her the way you did last night.” She reached for the coffeepot. “How about a nice hot cup of coffee and a doughnut?”
Maxine was wasting her time, Luke thought. Irene looked like she only drank exotic teas or gourmet coffee made from specially roasted beans that had been freshly ground before brewing. And he wa ure that she would hate the doughnuts.
But to his amazement she smiled again at Maxine.
“That sounds great,” she said. “Thank you.”
Maxine beamed. She handed Irene a mug of coffee and a small napkin with one of the cardboard doughnuts perched on top.
Irene sipped the coffee and nibbled daintily on the lousy doughnut. Her manner suggested that she was savoring both.
Something weird going on here, Luke thought.
“Finding Pamela was certainly a terrible shock,” Irene said. “Had she been spending a lot of time here in Dunsley lately?”
What the hell? Luke felt his built-in trouble radar slam straight into the red zone.
“No more than usual,” Maxine said, oblivious. “For the past few years she was in the habit of showing up here occasionally on the weekends. She usually had a man with her or a few of her friends from the city. But we didn’t see a lot of her.”
“Did you know that she was in town?”
“Oh, sure. She was seen driving past the cafe earlier this week.” Maxine glanced at Luke. “Word goes around fast when a member of the Webb family is in town.
They’re sort of our local royalty, in case you haven’t already figured that out.”
“I did get that impression after I noticed that the municipal building, the park, the local hospital and the main street in Dunsley are all named Webb.”
Maxine laughed. “The Webbs have been connected to Dunsley for four generations.”
“The signs on the buildings and the street all honor Victor Webb,” Irene explained.
“Pamela’s grandfather. He’s the Webb that built a sporting goods empire several years ago. After he got rich he donated a lot of money to various charities and projects in the local community.”
Maxine poured herself some coffee. “You might say that Victor Webb is the town’s fairy godfather. A lot of people around here are grateful to him for one reason or another. Isn’t that right, Irene?”
Irene nodded. “That’s certainly the way it was when I lived here.”
“But he doesn’t live here,” Luke observed.
“Not anymore,” Maxine said. “When he founded his chain of stores, he established his headquarters in San Francisco. Later, after he sold the business for megabucks, he retired to Phoenix. We only see hi n the fall now when he comes up here to hunt. But he hasn’t forgotten Dunsley.”