“Right,” said Lucy, watching as he drove off. She had a feeling that whoever this guy was, he was connected to Mimi, which meant he was either dangerous or in danger himself.

Chapter 10

Phyllis took one look at Lucy’s face when she got back to the office after the funeral and handed her the box of tissues. “That’s why I hate funerals,” she said, looking up from the stack of press releases she was filing in chronological order. “They’re just so damn depressing.”

“And she was so young. Only thirty-nine,” added Ted, who was paying bills.

“I was thinking,” sniffled Lucy, dabbing at her eyes, “how proud Mimi would be of her boys in their suits and haircuts and she probably never saw them like that.” Lucy was really crying now and Phyllis got up and enveloped her in a big Jean Nate-scented hug. “She never got to see them graduate from high school or get married or have kids of their own.”

“I know. I know,” said Phyllis, patting her on the back.

“And it isn’t like she had cancer or something that wasn’t anybody’s fault,” continued Lucy. “Somebody killed her. Stabbed her. Who could do something like that? Why would they do it?”

“From what I’ve heard, everybody thinks it was her husband,” said Ted, looking very somber. “In fact, that’s what I’m writing my editorial about this week. The nationwide increase in domestic violence and how we’re not immune from it even here in Tinker’s Cove.”

Lucy wiped her face and blew her nose, pulling herself together, and went over to her desk. “I don’t know why I’m acting like this,” she said. “I didn’t even like her and she sure wasn’t popular with her neighbors on Prudence Path. But I saw this man, he looked like he’s been living in the woods, and he looked really sad. Much sadder even than Fred and the boys. He was crying.” Lucy shrugged. “Maybe grief is catching. Maybe I caught it from him.”

“You know, I think I saw that guy yesterday,” said Phyllis. “He’s got long hair and a beard and wears one of those olive green Army jackets?”

“That’s the one,” said Lucy. “He looks like a homeless person.”

“Could be. I saw him hanging around the back of the IGA, near the Dumpsters.”

“Probably looking for food,” said Lucy, shuddering at the thought.

“I always expect to see homeless people when I go to Boston or some other big city, but not in Tinker’s Cove,” said Ted. “Here we take care of each other.”