“Aunt Ida. You know, Haley, the one who got hurt when the fish hit her on the head. Came right through the window. Nobody would have believed her if her brother and his wife hadn’t been standing there. A three pound big mouthed bass. Whack, right on the side of her head. Knocked her cold.”

“Where did it come from?” Frances draped the afghan around herself like a cape.

“Best they can figure, a little twister sucked some of the fish from the pasture pond. There were several out in the yard just flapping around.”

Haley poured some bourbon into her cup and held it up. “To Aunt Ida,” she said.

“To all the Aunt Idas,” Frances said. “Bless their hearts.”

By the time Fred called, we had each eaten a sandwich, and we were in the middle of a three-hand bridge game that none of us could concentrate on. He sounded very excited about the Metal Fab merger. Everything was going to be great, better than great. Check and see if any of the condos in the building were for sale.

“Ha,” I said, and didn’t tell him about Millicent Weatherby. What I told him was to be careful, that I loved him.

I had just hung up when Mary Alice came in. We all wanted to know how Fairchild was.

“Dr. Harris down on the second floor came up and gave him a sedative,” she said. “Laura’s called some people and they’re beginning to come in. Bless her heart. She’s so upset, I thought we were going to have to get the doctor to give her something, too.”

Mary Alice looked tired. “How about a toddy for the body, Sister?” I asked. “And I’ll fix you a sandwich.”

“Thanks, Mouse.”

“Did Lieutenant Bissell ask Fairchild any questions?” Haley wanted to know.

“A few. He was very nice. He’ll get around to being tougher, though. Poor Fairchild.”

“I wonder where Millicent spent last night,” I said from the kitchen. “Who she spent the night with.”

“You know what puzzles me?” Sister said. “She had on the same clothes, the same clothes she had on at the Redneck and this morning. Now wouldn’t you think if she had slept in that outfit like she said, that she couldn’t wait to take a shower and change? Millicent was meticulous. She certainly wouldn’t have gone to work in those clothes.”

“Seems to me that after a night like that she would have just gone to bed and caught up on sleep.” Haley said.

Mary Alice sighed and propped her feet on the coffee table. “I told Major about the clothes. He made a note.”

“Major Bissell?” I stuck some bread in the toaster.

“Uh huh. He’s having a story critiqued at the writers’ conference, too. I hope he doesn’t get so tied up on this case that he doesn’t get to come to it.”