“After that,” I said, “it was a nasty game of hide-and-seek until Keith got hold of the gun.” I also had the feeling it was going to be a long time before I could sit in anyone’s backyard without feeling phantom pain in my hands and knees.

“Mmm.” Tabitha gave my hand bandages a pointed look. “From what Hal said Keith said, there was quite a bit more, featuring Minnie Hamilton saving the day with brilliant courage.”

I shook my head. That wasn’t how I saw it. If I’d been smart, I would have figured out the motive far earlier, let Keith know via a safe phone call, and notified the authorities the same way.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree,” Tabitha said. “Now, let me tell you what I found out yesterday. It’s old news, but I do like to have all the loose ends tied up.”

“Oh?” I asked, trying to remember what ends might still be out there.

“We’d been wondering about Bob Bernier, thinking that he was spending an inordinate amount of time with his newly widowed sister-in-law.”

Right. That loose end. It seemed so long ago. “What did you find out? And how?”

“Turns out that Bob plays the trumpet and has joined the local community band.” Tabitha beamed. “They rehearse on Tuesday nights and their conductor doesn’t mind a community member stopping by to watch.”

“So handy,” I said, half smiling.

“Isn’t it, though? And afterward, it was easy to walk out with a particular trumpet player and encourage a certain direction of conversation.”

I could just see it; the quiet Bob carrying a trumpet case across a dark parking lot, walking next to Tabitha in chatter mode. “How did you get him to tell you anything?”

“Easy. I asked him questions he wanted to answer.”

My mouth opened and shut without any sounds coming out of it. So simple.

“Anyway,” Tabitha went on, “Bob likes living alone and doesn’t ever plan to marry. Lindy is like a sister to him, always has been and always will be. He’s been spending so much time with Lindy because he’s teaching her to do the things Brown always did. Opening wine bottles, starting the lawn mower, replacing the furnace filter, that kind of thing.”

I made a mental note to learn about furnace filters and lawn mowers. Someday. But something Tabitha had said earlier echoed back to me. “You said Hal was talking to you about last night. But the last couple of weeks it seemed like the two of you weren’t . . . well . . .” I let my sentence wander off, because I shouldn’t have been asking questions that were none of my business. “Sorry,” I said, “I shouldn’t have said anything.”