“She showed up one day at Silver’s. She told me she was determined to take off the weight and wanted me to help her. It was clear to me…at least at that time…she had no real interest in building. She just wanted an excuse to be with me. It was very embarrassing, but I just couldn’t be an asshole. So I went along with her charade, and we worked out a beginning program for her. Also a diet—a strict diet. I figured she wouldn’t last more than a week.”

He let out a soft chuckle.

“Last laugh’s on me. Man, she took to building like a fish to water. As soon as she started looking great, she wasn’t interested in me anymore.” He looked down at his lap. “She told me she was once a model. I can believe it. She’s gorgeous. It’s hard for me to think of her as she was. I can’t tell you how different she is. See, not only was she fat, she was weird. Now she’s just your typical gorgeous-chick egotist.”

Marge looked up from her pad. “Weird in what way?”

“She’d mumble to herself a lot.”

“Mumble?”

“Yeah, like mutter to herself. That’s not so weird, I guess. Lots of people mutter to themselves. It calms you down. Only with Tandy, it had the opposite effect. She seemed really upset whenever she muttered to herself.”

McKay paused.

“I don’t know if the muttering got her upset or she was upset and that started her muttering. What’s the dif? It’s history now.”

The phone rang. McKay excused himself and picked it up.

“Golden Valley, this is Leek McKay. How can I help you?…Well, hello, Mrs. Graham. Mom’s doing great today.”

Marge waited until Leek finished his conversation, thinking about Tandy’s muttering. Marge muttered to herself but not frequently. For McKay to mention it, Tandy must have been doing quite a bit of mumbling. McKay hung up the phone.

Marge said, “You knew Marie and Tandy were friends?”

“Sure.”

“Then why wasn’t Lita aware of her own daughter’s friendship with Tandy?”

“Lita’s only aware of Lita.”

“How close were they—Tandy and Marie?”

“They were friends.” McKay paused. “I think Marie was trying to help Tandy find work after she quit.”

“I thought Tandy was laid off.”

Leek hesitated. “Actually, Tandy was officially laid off, that’s correct.”

“What do you mean by officially?”

“Tandy was going to quit, but they laid her off before she turned in her papers. I told her that was really better. She could collect unemployment until she found other work.”

“So Marie was helping her find a job?”