“I can tell you exactly. Her and me had a fight. I forget now over what. I tore down a panel of her lace curtains and she went berserk, tore down the rest and threw them in the trash. She went over to the Moon and I followed her. We started drinking and she calmed down some. I thought everything was okay, but that’s when she up and told me she was leaving me. She said it was over and she’d be gone the next day. I didn’t believe a word. Violet said things like that every other week. This time she was crying so hard it tore me up. I was sorry for what I’d done. I knew those lace curtains meant something to her. I wanted to make up for that and everything else.

“She’d seen the car a couple days before and that’s all she talked about, so I went down to the dealership and bought it. I drove it home that same day and parked it out in front, then went in and told her to look outside. When she saw the car, she was like a little kid. It’s the happiest I’d ever seen her.”

“When was that? What date?”

“July third. Day before she left.”

“Did she talk about going somewhere, a road trip?”

“Not a word. She was nicer than she’d been in a long, long time, so I thought things were fine. We spent Saturday morning together, the three of us-her, me, and Daisy. I had a job of work to take care of in the early afternoon, but after that I came back and we did some stuff around the house. At five, she fixed Daisy’s supper-bacon and scrambled eggs, which was Daisy’s favorite. Violet had a babysitter coming at six. She was going to put Daisy in the bath and get her ready for bed. She wanted to change clothes and she said we’d meet at the park in time for the fireworks.

“I stopped by the Blue Moon on the way. I’ll admit I had a couple of beers… more than a couple, if you want to know the truth. By the time I got to the park, it was almost dark and the fireworks display was about to begin. I looked everywhere for her and finally took a seat and enjoyed the show by myself.”

“People saw you there?”

“Yes, indeed. That’s one thing people had to give me. Livia Cramer was sitting right there talking to me, big as life. When I got to the house, I could see the car wasn’t in the drive. I went in and realized Violet was gone as well.”

“But the babysitter was there, yes?”

“That’s what she says. My thinking wasn’t all that clear.”

“Why was that?”