Page 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

My stomach didn’t know if it was relieved or disappointed that Clara got desserts only for the Carnells. Not us.

We had the one modest bag in hand when we traversed the tricky deck and knocked on their door.

Again, Payloma answered. Again, Olive was in her chair with the TV on. Again, there was little sign of welcome.

Until Clara jiggled the bag, setting off bakery smells that not only softened Payloma’s expression, but prompted Olive to mute the TV.

Again, we followed Payloma inside without an invitation.

Clara had the foresight to have the café cut the two dessert choices — a mega brownie and a bear claw of wooly mammoth proportions — in two, so each had half of each.

Clara chatted while they ate, which didn’t take long, timing the end of their chewing with “...and we saw Beverly this morning. She said Jaylynn had gotten along with her in-laws fine, though we had a feeling that maybe after the baby...?”

She mixed the timeline, since Beverly said that yesterday, but I wasn’t going to point that out.

Payloma swallowed what was in her mouth, then bit down on the lure Clara dangled.

“You mean Her Majesty? That’s what Jaylynn called her.

Because she acted like she was queen of everything,” she added, in case we didn’t get the gist. “Jaylynn was polishing up her knack for dealing with her. Sure didn’t worry about pleasing her the way she had when she and Derrick were dating.

Especially not after Robbie came along.”

“Because he was always her first priority,” Clara said it with enough confidence to leave off the question mark.

“Yeah, that, too. But also because having their only grandchild gave her power. Beverly wouldn’t’ve risked Jaylynn cutting off contact with Robbie for anything. Not anything .”

I pretended confusion. “But if Jaylynn had a boyfriend, couldn’t the Dorrios use that against her?”

In perfect bad cop — that would be me — good cop timing, Clara said, “Oh, but Evan Ferguson says Jaylynn never let anything improper happen between them.”

Payloma snorted, but Olive ignored it to join Clara’s side. “Of course she didn’t. My dear girl never would have. Unlike that selfish beast she married.”

“We heard about that.” Clara shook her head in disapproval. “Did Jaylynn know Derrick was cheating on her?”

Both women stiffened and so obviously didn’t look at each other or at us that it was louder than words that we’d hit a nerve.

“I’m sure she didn’t know. She would have confided in me. She always told me everything, my dear girl.” Olive hiccupped slightly. Quelling a sob or from the desserts?

Clara and I both looked at Payloma.

She didn’t make eye contact, but muttered, “Didn’t tell me.”

As if she hadn’t spoken, Olive said, “It would have hurt her so deeply to know he was cheating on her. It would have hurt her so very much. She couldn’t have kept that from me, because we were always close.

But she had to know at the end, didn’t she?

In her last moments. And that might be what bothers me the most, that she knew at the end that he had betrayed her. ”

“Why are you looking at me?” Payloma rasped.

She was right. Olive had turned toward her as she’d said, She knew at the end that he had betrayed her.

Payloma wasn’t done, continuing before Olive could respond.

“You always look at me. Like I had something to do with her being murdered.”

“I didn’t say about her being murdered—”

“No? But you think it all fits together, no matter how many times I say otherwise.”

“You mean because you’d had an affair with Derrick while Jaylynn was pregnant?” Clara asked evenly.

They sailed past that.

What you’d expect to be a showstopper didn’t cause even a ripple.

Because it was such old news to them?

“It wasn’t my fault. He was all over me.

The first time, I didn’t even know what was happening.

Or why it happened. Then he threatened to tell Jaylynn.

He used that and how it would upset her, being pregnant and all, to keep at it whenever he wanted.

” That had a genuine note of plaintiveness, quickly replaced by defensiveness.

“No matter what you say, I never had a thing for him. Never. Didn’t see what Jaylynn saw in him, to tell the truth. ”

“Didn’t stop you screwing around with him.”

“ He. Came. On. To. Me. ”

“A normal person says no — a sister says no. And if she can’t say no, she keeps her mouth shut.

Forever. She doesn’t blast it out because she’s so jealous she can’t stand to see her sister with a man from a family that’s going to make life easier for her, knowing her sister has too much pride to just live with it and then that gets her killed . ”

“That’s right, that’s right. I’m the worst scum on the earth. And just who gave birth to me and raised me, huh? But I — did — not — tell — her. I’ve said it over and over and it’s about time you believed me or at least stopped shooting off your mouth. I never told her.”

“Then who did?”

“How the hell should I know? Derrick or Dova or the man in the moon. I have no idea. I didn’t tell anybody. Don’t even know how you found out.”

Olive dabbed her eyes with a napkin from the café, leaving a crumb on her cheek. “You should be more respectful about your sister’s tragic death.”

Payloma rolled her eyes.

“When did it end?” Clara slid in quietly.

“Just after the baby came. When he went right to Dova,” Payloma said.

I hadn’t changed my mind about the family dynamic of the dead daughter being made a saint at the expense of the surviving daughter. On the other hand, I suspected Payloma’s personality provided rich soil for that dynamic to grow in.

****

We escaped right after that.

I was unequivocally happy that we hadn’t had more dessert. It would have curdled.

We’d confirmed Donna’s nonverbal information. We sure weren’t going to get Payloma to say she’d told Jaylynn, not without a lot of evidence and a crowbar.

So, unless Derrick dropped that bomb — which made no sense because by the time of the murder he’d been with Dova for a year — Jaylynn hadn’t known.

There wasn’t more to get from them for now.

Besides, we had to get to Kentucky Manor to see Rose Gleiner.