Hudson felt the familiar prickliness of suspicion rise on his skin. Then, in an instant, it disappeared. “Paul found it,” he said.

“Your lover,” Ben said. “The one who died.”

Hudson nodded. “Paul was a huge Steinbeck fan,” he said. “In fact, he’s the one who got me so interested in him. I took one of Paul’s classes.”

“He was your professor?” Ben asked, looking surprised.

“Yes,” said Hudson. “A number of years ago, he bought a couple of boxes of Steinbeck memorabilia from a bookstore owner who was going out of business. There were all kinds of things in there. Mostly it was typescripts of short stories and magazine articles—nothing too exciting. But then there was this manuscript.” He held the pages up. “This was the real find.”

“But he died before he could prove that it’s authentic,” said Ben. “Poor guy.”

Hudson set the manuscript on the coffee table. “Not exactly,” he said nervously. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth about that.”

Ben eyed him curiously. “Why?” he asked. “You didn’t have something to do with it, did you?” His voice was light, and Hudson knew he was making a joke to try to lighten the situation.

“That depends who you ask,” Hudson replied. He looked at Ben. “Me or his wife.”

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 32

“Could I go to work with you today?”

Ben looked up from his pancakes. Caddie was poking at hers, not looking at him. Did I hear her correctly? he wondered. “Come to work with me?” he said.

“Unless you don’t want me to,” Caddie said quickly. “I just thought it might be, I don’t know, interesting.”

“Of course,” Ben said quickly, as if she might change her mind if he gave her too much time to think about it. “I’m not sure how interesting it will be for you, though.”

“I don’t know,” Caddie said. “I’ve gotten a little more into marine biology since I started ...” She stopped in midsentence.

“Since?” Ben prodded.

“Since I started reading some of the books you have in your office,” said Caddie. “I finished the books I brought, so I looked at yours. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine,” Ben said. “Is there anything in particular you found interesting?”

Caddie shrugged. “Nudibranchs, I guess,” she said.

Ben brightened. “You know you’re named for one,” he said.

“I know,” Caddie said.

Ben set his fork down. “I suppose that’s not something a girl gets very excited about,” he said.

“Not really,” agreed Caddie. “I guess there are worse things you could have named me after, though.”

“Your mother wanted to call you Emma,” Ben told her.

Caddie made a face. “Please,” she said. “Emma sounds like a librarian.”

“That’s what I told her too,” said Ben.