Page 95 of Head Room

“I don’t know about distracted.But...different from usual.”

She appeared satisfied with those statements as completing the topic.Me?Not so much.

“In what way different?Did he say something specific?”

“Specific?I don’t remember—”

I backed off strict requirements.“Or in general?The gist, not word for word.”

“Um.The day he came here, he was talking about the things people keep to remember times in their lives.Like, he was talking about how people used to bronze babies’ shoes.”

“Did he come here a lot?”

She shook her head.“That one day, like I said.”

“When was that?”

Her gaze went up toward the blue sky.“A few days before the fire?Pretty sure.Because Vidalia was wearing the striped romper my cousin gave me the weekend before, after her youngest grew out of it.”

In other words, around the same time he walked past Connie without noticing her.

“He talked about things people keep to remember,” I repeated.

“Uh-huh.”

“Like bronzed baby shoes.”

“Uh-huh.”

Oblique nudging wasn’t working.“Did he say anything else?”

“Uh-huh.He said he and Irene never had bronzed baby shoes, but he had a flag he’d received— Oh.Did I tell you about that?It was in the metal box with the medals and Irene’s manuscript and the photos.Anyway, he said those things meant a lot to him, but nothing meant more to him than the quilts Irene made.And he liked knowing there were lots out in the world, like mirrors of her.But there were also ones she’d made that hadn’t found homes yet.”

Was Frank Jardos setting out breadcrumbs for somebody to follow, in case something happened...like what did happen?

Talking about things that meant a lot to him, suggesting me for getting the manuscript, planting a seed in Hannah’s mind that prompted her to go back to the fire scene the next day, reminding her about the metal box, the manuscript.

Choosing Hannah, because similar statements to Connie would have her immediately wondering what was wrong.Even if she couldn’t pry it out of him in the moment, afterward she’d remember and connect those dots.

Dots that led to suspicion that he knew the fire was coming...

But what about the quilts?The metal box saved other things precious to him, but quilts are big, bulky.

“Hannah, did the sergeant give you quilts his wife had made before the fire?”

“You mean the ones for Vidalia?”

“Irene gave you those quilts, right?”

“Right.”

“So, no, I mean other quilts besides those.After Irene died.”

She shook her head.“All the quilts that hadn’t found homes yet like he said burned up.”

“Are you sure?”

She shook her head, but said, “Yes.”