I shook my head that I couldn’t imagine. I sat down in the chair across from him and for a few minutes we were quiet, lost in our own thoughts. Finally Fairchild sighed and said he had better go next door and see what was going on.

“I’m surprised Laura Stamps hasn’t been over here looking for you,” I said.

He managed a grin. “She’s scared of Mary Alice.”

I grinned back. “Smart woman.”

“Thanks for the R and R.” He got up. “I needed it.”

“Mary Alice left me a note reminding me to rescue you.”

“She did?” He looked pleased.

I handed him the Post-it that was in my pocket. “I would have done it anyway.”

“Thanks.” He left the apartment looking much better than he had when he came in.

I fixed myself a sandwich and went to the balcony to eat it. I missed Fred and wanted to talk to him. I missed Woofer and wanted to talk to him, too.

“You look woebegone,” Mary Alice said behind me.

I jumped. “What are you doing home? The conference isn’t over for the day, is it?”

“It is for me. All they’re doing this afternoon is poetry.” She said poetry as if it were something ridiculous.

“I love poetry,” I said.

“I like some of it, too,” she admitted, plunking down in the chair beside me. “I like that woman’s poetry, you know, that book you gave me Christmas. She makes sense.”

“Mary Oliver?”

“Yeah. She’s not at the conference.”

“Too bad. Who is?”

“I don’t remember.” Sister held out a manila envelope. “We swapped short story manuscripts this morning and we’re to critique them and take them back tomorrow.”

“That sounds interesting. Did you see Major Bissell?’

“God yes, Mouse.” Sister rattled the manila envelope. “I hope this isn’t his story. Lord only knows what he’d write about. You know what he told me? Just came right out and told me while I was eating a doughnut and a kiwi?”

“What?”

“That Millicent’s throat wasn’t cut. He said it was torn, like some animal had ripped it right through the jugular and the carotid.”

“Dear God!”

“You should have heard him describe what the blood must have been like.”

“Don’t tell me.”

“Well, spurting and fountain were included.”

“Thank you for sharing that,” I said, putting my sandwich down.

“See?” Sister said. “I couldn’t finish my snack either, and they’d put out all kinds of good stuff during the break.” She looked down at the beach. “Where are Haley and Frances, and what’s been going on?”

I told her they were at the outlet mall, described my rescue of Fairchild, and related the visit of the two Florida Marine Patrol officers. I even managed to remember the details, as many as Fairchild had related, of the insurance policy.