“I’m going to go check on Fairchild,” she said, turning left as we got off the elevator at the sixth floor.

“I’ll see where Haley and Frances are.” I went into our apartment and saw that it was empty. A glance from the balcony showed me they were at the beach. I put on my bathing suit, slathered Factor 45 sunscreen all over me, and went to join them.

“Hey, Mama,” Haley said, looking up from her book as I approached. “Where’ve you been?”

“Your Aunt Sister and I went over to Blue Bay Ranch to look around. It has to be seen to be believed.”

“I wanted to go,” Haley said.

“Me, too.” Frances looked slightly pink.

“You better get under the umbrella,” I said, handing her the sunscreen. “We’ll take y’all back tomorrow.”

“What’s it like?” Haley asked.

I tried to explain the split-rail fence, the log cabin, the brightly colored houses that seemed to have been designed by architects who were familiar with every school of design and were determined to show it.

“Sounds cute,” Frances said.

I looked to see if she meant it. She seemed to. “How long have y’all been out here in the sun?” I asked.

“A while.” Haley closed the book she was reading. “We saw Sophie Berliner.”

I sat down in the shade of the umbrella. “Here at the beach?”

Haley nodded. “Had to be her. Fit your description exactly, complete with the black gauze outfit. I know she was burning up.”

“Making a statement.” Frances settled into the shade beside me.

“Anyway,” Haley continued, “she came over the stile like some kind of crow, sort of creeping along.”

“And the lifeguard came to attention,” Frances added. “Like someone had poked him with a stick.”

“We found out why when she got to the water. She shucked off that black gauze and had on a bathing suit that was almost nonexistant. And the kid’s got a shape like you wouldn’t believe, Mama.”

“She’s only a child, Haley!” I protested.

Haley and Frances both laughed. “Some child!” Haley said. “I’ll bet pacemakers were popping on all over the beach.”

“How about that,” I said. “You should have seen the skinny Lolita who showed us the layout of Blue Bay. Sounds like they should swap names.”

“Sophie’s doing just fine with the one she’s got,” Haley said.

“Have y’all seen Fairchild?” I asked.

Haley reached for the sunscreen. “I looked in on him for a minute. I thought you might be over there.”

“Was he overwhelmed with women?”

“Nobody was there but Laura Stamps from next door. She was fixing him some lunch.”

“Had he heard anything? Did he say?”

“I didn’t ask. I just told him we were next door if he needed anything.”

I remembered what Mary Alice had said about Millicent’s throat looking as if it had been torn by an animal and told them.