“Right.” Fred’s tone was curt. Maybe he was limiting himself to one-word answers because he was afraid of breaking down or maybe he wasn’t going to be missing Mimi much at all. Lucy couldn’t tell.

“I mostly need basic facts for the obituary,” said Lucy, keeping her voice gentle and soothing. “Let’s begin with her maiden name.”

“Mary Catherine O’Toole.”

After she went over the spelling, apologizing profusely for being such a stickler, she asked for information about Mimi’s parents and place of birth.

“Boston.”

“She was born in Boston,” repeated Lucy, giving him a chance to correct her if necessary, “and her parents?”

“Don’t know,” he said, cutting her off.

“You don’t know who your wife’s parents were?” persisted Lucy.

“Never met ’em.” Fred sounded defensive.

“Sisters? Brothers?”

“No,” he answered, raising his voice.

“So you and the two boys are the only survivors?”

“Why do you want to know?” Fred’s tone was becoming hostile.

“It’s just a formality. It’s always included in an obituary.”

“How long is this going to take?” he asked abruptly.

“I have quite a list of questions. It’s a summation of her whole life, you know.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“But don’t you want people to know about her life? What she did, what was important to her?”

“No.” He paused. “And don’t go bothering my boys either.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t…” began Lucy, but the line had gone dead.

The usual trick in that case was to call back immediately and say the line must have been disconnected but Lucy didn’t think it would work. Fred wasn’t going to talk to her. Luckily, there were plenty of other people who knew Mimi, like her colleagues at town hall, but it would take forever to track them down.

Lucy had to finish up the obituary on Wednesday which, in addition to being deadline day, was the first day of school. The school year wasn’t getting off to a great start, at least not in the Stone household. Sara and Zoe were running late, and the fact that the school bus now stopped over at Prudence Path instead of at the end of their driveway meant they couldn’t count on the driver honking and waiting for them as she had in the past.

“Girls! You’ve got to get over to the bus stop NOW!” yelled Lucy, who was nervously keeping an eye on the Regulator clock in the kitchen.

A desultory series of thumps announced Zoe’s arrival at the foot of the back stairs. She was wearing her brand new back-to-school outfit, a pink track suit just like the ones Britney and Jessica wore.

“Do you have a T-shirt on underneath?” asked Lucy, who knew it was going to be another hot day. “You’ll roast if you can’t take off that hoodie.”