“Sometimes he’d pretend not to be aware of what she was doing. Other times he’d clearly be liking it. There was definitely some kind of chemistry going on. How far it went, I don’t know. I never told anyone, not even my friends. Who thought in those terms, back then?”

“But you were grossed out.”

“I was,” she said, “but when Amelia’s own kids didn’t seem bothered I started to wonder if I was seeing things.” Small smile. “Being fortified by puffs of an illegal herb fed my doubts.”

“Amelia was seductive,” I said, “but she sent Brad out of state.”

“Several times. Maybe she wanted him out of the picture so she could deal with her own impulses? Would you call that a psychological insight?”

“Sure would.”

She smiled. “Maybe I should be an analyst.”

“How many times is ‘several’?”

“I’d say three, four.”

“Because he’d gotten into trouble.”

“Those were the rumors.”

“Did the rumors get specific?” I said.

“Your basic juvenile deliquency,” she said. “Do they use that term anymore?”

“I do. What’re we talking about, theft, truancy?”

“All that.” She frowned. “Also, some people in the neighborhood had pets that went missing and there was talk Brad was involved.”

“Why?”

“I honestly don’t know, that’s just what was said. That’s important, isn’t it? Cruelty to animals is related to being a serial killer, right?”

“It’s a risk factor,” I said. “When was the last time Brad was sent away?”

“After Amelia gave up on the band. Not right after, maybe a month, five weeks.”

“What convinced her to quit?”

“Who knows? One day she just called up Mother and announced that there was no future for popular music. As if she’d made the choice. What a loon.”

“And soon after that, Brad was gone.”

“Guess she no longer needed him...now that we’re talking about it, I realize how bad it must’ve been for him. Used and discarded. If he was bothered, he didn’t show it. Just the opposite, he was always calm, nothing got to him. That’s not normal, either, is it? Would you be my psychological consultant?”

“Get a contract and we’ll talk. What about Captain Dowd?”

“What about him?”

“Was he involved in the band?”

“He wasn’t involved in anything I ever saw. Which wasn’t that different from most fathers in the neighborhood. But they were gone because of work. Captain Dowd lived off inheritance, never held down a job.”

“How’d he spend his time?”

“Golf, tennis, collecting cars and wine and whatever. Lots of vacations abroad. Or, as my mother called them, ‘grand tours.’ ”

“Where?”

“Europe, I guess.”

“Did he travel with his wife?”

“Sometimes,” she said, “but mostly it was by himself. That was the official story.”

“Unofficially?”