“Lord!” Frances said. “A shark?”

“A shark wouldn’t have just torn her throat,” Haley said.

“He didn’t say it was an animal. He just said that it wasn’t cut with a knife or something like that.”

“Vampires?”

Haley and I both looked at Frances.

“You’re right,” she said. “Vampires just leave teeth marks, don’t they?”

We continued to look at her.

“What?” she asked. “What?”

“Vampires, Frances?”

“You’re right. This is the Florida panhandle, not New Orleans.” She reached for a beer from the cooler.

I turned over the book she was reading and looked at the cover. Anne Rice.

Frances turned a little pinker. “I guess there’s a logical explanation. Right?”

Haley and I both nodded.

Mary Alice came over the stile and joined us. “Did Patricia Anne tell you about Blue Bay Ranch?” she asked Haley and Frances as she stretched out on a beach towel.

“I’m surprised Millicent and Fairchild weren’t building a house over there,” Haley said.

“Didn’t Laura say she and Eddie were?” I handed Sister the sunscreen bottle. “Here, put some on your face.”

But nobody could remember.

Sister handed the bottle back to me. “I’m just going to be here a minute. I’ve got to go read the short story I got at the conference this morning. Critique it.”

“I’ll go with you,” I said. “We need a few things from Delchamps. We’re almost out of bread, for one thing.”

Haley looked up. “Get some of that no-fat caramel popcorn. I love that stuff.”

“And those no-fat cookies, too,” Frances chimed in. “The chocolate fudge kind.”

“Some of that fruit dip and some apples.” Sister sat up. “That stuff’s great with those real crisp apples. Not the Delicious ones, the rounder, fatter ones. We need some of those, too.”

“And tonight’s two movies for the price of one night. See what you can find, Mama. And you better check before you leave. We may need some more Diet Coke.”

“Does Chinese suit everybody tonight?” Sister asked. “We can just call it in.”

I pushed up from my chair. “We really lead a gastronomically deprived life, don’t we?”

They had the decency to smile.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

That night we watched the movies while we pigged out on Mu Shu pork, almond chicken, and shrimp fried rice. Then Sister disappeared into her bedroom to critique the story she had been given at the conference. When Fred called, I told him about Millicent’s death, leaving out the part about us finding the body. When he jumped to the conclusion that she had drowned while swimming, I let well enough alone.

“That’s terrible!” he exclaimed. “She was such a nice lady. How’s Fairchild holding up?”