Page 77 of The Murder Club

“Such as?”

“Some people whispered that she had an affair with a married man and that his wife ran Lorene out of town.”

Bailey shook her head at the mere idea that the fierce, ruthlessly determined woman who controlled the nursing home and her staff with an iron fist could be frightened into fleeing.

“I don’t believe it.”

Dorinda shrugged. “She was young and pregnant.”

Bailey continued to shake her head. Lorene could have a gun pointed at her head and she would spit in the person’s face. There had to be another explanation.

“Were there other rumors?”

Dorinda glanced away, allowing a long, oddly strained silence to stretch between them. Was she trying to recall the ancient gossip? She seemed tense, as if there was something bothering her.

“Not exactly a rumor,” the older woman at last admitted.

“Dorinda, what is it?”

“I’ve never told this to anyone. Not for over thirty years.”

Bailey arched her brows. This woman was an avid gossip. There was nothing she loved more than sharing the tidbits she picked up from her numerous friends. The fact that she’d kept a secret for thirty years was nothing short of a miracle.

“I’m listening,” Bailey murmured.

“Back when Lorene first moved to Pike our church group was in charge of bingo day at the nursing home,” she said, her gaze locked on her hands, which she’d twisted together in her lap. “Those were the days before the new nursing home was built and it was next door in the old poorhouse. The kitchen was in the basement. I hated going down there, but I had to get the cupcakes we’d brought to serve the residents. Chocolate with sprinkles, I think. Or maybe they were the vanilla ones with cream cheese frosting. Yes, it was the cream cheese ones. We left them in the walk-in cooler. Remember, that place didn’t have air-conditioning and in the summer it was always unpleasantly hot. . . .” She abruptly lifted her head to send Bailey a wry glance. “Oh, you wouldn’t remember, would you? You weren’t even born yet.”

Bailey frowned. Her older friend might like to gossip, but she didn’t usually babble nonsense. The only time she ever talked in circles was when she was hiding something.

“Dorinda.” Bailey narrowed her eyes. “Why are you stalling?”

The older woman blew out a harsh breath. “I don’t like Lorene Donaldson. And after what she did to you I like her even less. But I do have sympathy for her.”

“Why?” Bailey demanded in surprise. Sympathy for Lorene? It was like having sympathy for a crocodile.

“While I was in the kitchen I heard Lorene talking to someone. She was outside, but the window was open and I could hear them clear as day.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“I didn’t recognize the voice, but it sounded like an older woman. She was telling Lorene that she had to come home.”

“I’m assuming she didn’t mean her house in Pike?”

Dorinda shook her head. “She was very specific that she was disgusted that Lorene was working for a living and ruining her grandson’s life by keeping him away from his birthright.”

“Birthright?” That sounded like something rich people said. “She didn’t mention a location?” Bailey asked.

“As far as I know, Lorene has never said where she came from.”

Bailey shuffled through her memories, trying to recall whether Lorene had ever mentioned her life before Pike. She came up with nothing. Not beyond the practiced story of arriving at the nursing home with nothing but determination and ending up as the owner.

She shook her head. Where Lorene came from didn’t matter. “Did she say anything else?”

“That Lorene had a duty to her husband and family.”

Bailey jerked in shock. “Husband and family?”

“Yes.”