“He’s a terrible actor,” Stewart said, his face clearing a little, “and a terrible liar. Trust me, I’ve had plenty experience with it. He must have really believed it was an accident.”

“Maybe so.” I was going to reserve judgment on that one.

“What are you going to do now? Call Kanesha?”

I shook my head. “Not tonight. For one thing, Azalea is in no condition right now to talk to the sheriff, and Kanesha can’t do anything about it without involving Tidwell. It can wait until morning.”

I was probably cavalier in making that decision, but I felt that it was the right one. Convincing Kanesha, and then Tidwell, could be a monumental task, and I didn’t have the mental or physical energy to tackle it at ten thirty at night.

“Not a word to anyone else about this,” I said as I got up from the bed. “Okay?”

“No one will hear it from me,” Stewart said. “It’s going to be one hell of a mess, though, when it all comes out. Morty Cassity turning out to be gay will be a huge scandal.”

“No doubt,” I said wryly. Athena would be buzzing for months to come, if not years.

Diesel sat up sleepily when I got back in bed. He meowed at me, and I reassured him that everything was fine. He settled back down, and I tried to emulate him. My stomach churned, and my head buzzed, and it took quite a while that night for me to calm myself enough to fall asleep.

After a restless night I woke up at six the next morning. Too nervous to think about food, I also decided that caffeine wouldn’t help, so I settled on a cold glass of milk. Diesel was disappointed that there was no bacon to cadge, and he wandered off, probably in search of another bed to snooze on.

I kept glancing at the clock, waiting until a decent hour to call Kanesha.

Finally, at eight o’clock, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I called Kanesha’s cell phone and was relieved when she answered straightaway.

“How is Azalea doing?” I asked.

“She had a good night,” Kanesha replied. “I think she’s really going to be okay, thank the Lord. They moved her into a room not long after you left, and they’ll probably keep her until tomorrow. But if she keeps on doing well, she can go home then.”

“That’s wonderful news,” I said. “If she can have visitors, I’ll come visit later this morning.”

“I think she’d like that,” Kanesha said. “Aunt Lily’s with her now, but she won’t stay long.”

“Are you at the hospital now?”

“No, I’m at home. Why? What’s up?”

“I’ve got it figured out,” I said. “I need to talk to you right away.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Kanesha said.

I felt a little better now and decided that I could eat something. I didn’t have the energy to cook, so I settled for cereal and toast. Probably better for my waistline, anyway, so long as I didn’t load down the toast with any of Azalea’s homemade apricot preserves or strawberry jam.