Page 25

“I played football at Oakland Tech,” he said. “Wide receiver. Thought I was on my way to Cal before I blew out my knee.”

Guys always have to tell you.

I waited.

“Soooooo, the conventional wisdom on your father’s death is that he got sloppy drunk enough to go over the rail. And that because there’s no fixed ladder on that particular boat, and because there was no reason why he would have dropped down the swim ladder that night, he realized he was screwed once he was in the water and started to swim for it, at least until his heart exploded.”

“Or?”

“Or,”Cantor said, stepping on the word, “somebody snuck on his beloved boat that night and waited until it was far enough out in the water and threw him over the side when he wasn’t looking. Maybe even watched him until he went under.”

“How would that person get back to shore, since the boat wasstillout in the water when my father’s body washed up?”

“Well, I’ve certainly considered that,” Cantor said, “because that would be some swim in currents like there were that night. Wouldn’t it?”

“You checked the currents.”

“Why not?”

He took his phone out of his pocket, looked at it, put it away.

“I know he used to be a swimmer. And, all due respect, I know he was a boozer, more of one as he got older. So my question to you is, could he have gotten so hammered that night that even the fact that he had been a decent swimmer couldn’t save him once he was in the water?”

I took some time before I answered him.

“I haven’t seen him since January, as I’m sure you know. But even before that, I could see that his tolerance for vodka had started to weaken once he was up into his seventies, along with everything else that was getting weaker, including his memory, even though he would have killedhimselfbefore admitting that.”

Cantor was one row below me. He turned and smiled up at me now. Not a bad smile, all things considered. He probably knew that. The cool guys always did. My ex-husband sure as hell always had.

“Did you know what was in his will before the reading?” Cantor said.

Where did that come from?

“My father knew. And the lawyer knew.”

“He could have mentioned it,” Cantor said.

“My father or his lawyer?”

“Either way.”

“Are you calling me a liar, Detective?”

“Just chatting, like I said.”

“I just told you that my father and I hadn’t spoken to each other in quite some time.”

“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t have reconciled and not told anybody.”

“That sounds like another way to suggest I’m lying,” I said.

“I’m just doing my job. Sorry if I’ve offended you.”

“Are you?”

“In my job, you keep pulling on strings.”

“Wouldn’t ‘jerking chains’ be more accurate?”