“Which is what we saw when we went through the kitchen,” Marino agrees.

“Except for the fresh juices, and we can’t assume those were hers. In fact I’m suspicious they aren’t,” I reply. “What time did Lucy’s plane land at Logan?”

“Shortly after one P.M.” Benton says. “And you’re right. Chanel didn’t eat on the plane. The pilots remember her carrying some of the catering off of it. They had to dig around and find a bag for her.”

“You’ve talked to the pilots.” I pick up on what he just said and he pauses as if he has to sort through information he might not want to share.

Then he says, “Yes.”

“I’m curious about why you were inspired to do that, Benton. What were you hoping to discover? Were you asking the pilots about Chanel Gilbert? Or were your questions about Lucy and whatever the Customs agents might have been looking for when her jet was searched after it landed at Logan?”

“It wasn’t Customs. It was the DEA.”

“I see. Well the story gets only more unfortunate and offensive. Let me guess. The DEA showed up because there was a suspicion Lucy had found a way to get medical marijuana to Janet’s dying sister?”

“It seems Lucy may have gotten it from Chanel Gilbert.”

“Then how did it end up inside an old wooden box in the closet?” Marino asks. “Who the hell put it there if Chanel’s not been here since last spring?”

“Last spring was about the time Lucy and Janet realized they needed something to help Natalie. What you’ve found may have been in the wooden box since then,” Benton says. “Beyond that I don’t know.”

“And that’s the explanation for how Janet, Lucy and Chanel knew each other?” I ask. “Because of Natalie and MMJ?”

“It’s not,” Benton says. “It’s incidental to it. Medical marijuana has nothing to do with how the three of them were acquainted but it did turn into something they had in common. Again because of Natalie.”

I begin to wonder if Janet may have introduced Lucy to a spy. I ask myself why Janet would know someone like that.

“Her mother must get the stuff for her in California or wherever,” Marino says.

“I think Chanel was perfectly capable of getting anything she wanted,” Benton says. “But to answer you, Kay?” He meets my eyes in the mirror. “Lucy was transporting product shall we say into Virginia. It is believed she was supplying it to Natalie the months before she died.”

“Maybe if the Feds spent their time and resources on real crimes?” I reply. “What a different world it would be.”

“Fortunately they didn’t find weapons or contraband when they searched Lucy’s plane,” Benton says.