I had a split second in which to make a judgment. Could Bobby Callahan truly have gotten involved with a woman as phony as this? Oh hell, who was I trying to kid? Of course!

I gave her a fifteen-watt smile, resting my chin on my fist. "Well, I have a little problem, Nola. May I call you Nola?"

"Certainly. Glen mentioned you were investigating Bobby's death."

"That's true. Actually Bobby just hired me a week ago and I feel like I ought to give him his moneys worth."

"Oh. I thought maybe there was something wrong and that was why you were looking into it."

"There might be. I don't know yet."

"But shouldn't the police be doing that?"

"I'm sure they are. I'm conducting a... you know, an auxiliary investigation, just in case they're on the wrong track."

"Well, I hope somebody figures it out. Poor kid. We all feel so bad for Glen. Are you having any luck?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. Somebody told me half the story and all I have to do is figure out the rest."

"It sounds like you're doing pretty well, then." She hesitated delicately. "What kind of story?"

I suspect she didn't really want to ask, but the nature of the conversation dictated that she must. She was pretending to cooperate so, of course, she had to feign interest in a subject she'd probably prefer to ignore.

I let a moment pass while I stared down at the tabletop. I thought it lent a note of credibility to the lie I was about to tell. I looked back at her, making significant eye contact. "Bobby told me he was in love with you."

"With me?"

"That's what he said."

The eyes blinked. The smile went off and on. "Well, I'm astonished. I mean, it's very flattering and I always thought he was a sweet kid, but really!"

"I didn't find it that astonishing."

Her laugh conveyed a wonderful combination of innocence and disbelief "Oh, for heaven's sake. I'm married. And I'm twelve years older than he is."

Shit, she was quick-shaving years off her age without pausing to count on her fingers or anything. I'm not that fast at subtraction so it's probably fortunate that I don't lie about how old I am.

I smiled slightly. She was pissing me off and I found myself using a mild, deadly tone. "Age doesn't matter. Bobby's dead now. He's older than God. He's as old as anybody's ever going to get."

She stared at me, cuing in to the fact that I was mad. "You don't have to get nasty about it. I can't help it if Bobby Callahan decided he was in love with me. So the kid had a crush on me. So what?"