“Oh, of course. I get tired of the same old stuff.”

She pulled a suede-covered photo album off the shelf and sat beside me. We opened it on our laps. Sure enough, there was little Danielle in a kitchen with an older woman. They both had chocolate cake batter around their mouths and the woman was grinning. Another picture showed Danielle in pigtails sitting astride a brown pony, clearly thrilled. We flipped the pages, studying each image of this lovely child in jeans and pink tees. It must have been before the thing happened with her uncle. I’d never seen Danielle smile like that.

“How old was she here?” I said.

“About nine. A couple years after this we stopped going out there. Baby had a stroke, and she couldn’t get around. We had to sell the animals. She said to me once, ‘It’s hell getting old.’ I didn’t think it was healthy for Danielle to be around that kind of attitude. Her life hadn’t really turned out how she wanted, and then when her health declined she was so bitter. And she couldn’t ride. Danielle would’ve gotten bored.”

The next page contained pictures of the land, farmhouse and fences.

“Hard to believe,” Sally said. “Now this is surrounded by development. Back then it was all horse pastures and cane fields.”

“Is this the land Baby left to her?” I said.

“Yes. Danielle’s parcel is adjacent to my six acres.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m putting together a mixed commercial-residential development—we’re ready to break ground as soon as it clears probate.”

“You’ve had this planned? What, have you been waiting around for your aunt to die?”

“Come on, sweetie. I took care of Baby. She was dying for years. It simply made sense.”

“That’s why you tried to buy Danielle’s share. You need it for your development.”

“Well, partly. But she had to sell. Think what Danielle would have done with four acres in the middle of Tomball. Can you see her maintaining it, getting it Bush Hogged, paying property taxes?”

“I guess not,” I said.

“Let me refill your tea,” Sally said.

“I don’t want any more,” I said. I wanted a real drink, but I wasn’t going to ask. “What happened when she told you she wanted to keep the land?”

“How do you know about all this, anyway? Did she talk to you about it?”

“Her friend told me,” I said. “I know she was upset.”

“She needed some time to think it over. She called me later. I had offered her three hundred for it and she countered with four, plus a two-point share in the profits.”

I wasn’t sure I believed her. Why would Danielle change her mind? It didn’t make sense, just to hold out for more money. Danielle never cared about money.

“A two-point share? How much would that be?” I said.

“Oh, two or three hundred more, depending on the market.”

With Danielle dead, that was over half a million dollars that Sally had saved. I stared at the photo album, unable to bring my eyes into focus. I felt hot in the air-conditioned room. My pulse beat in my temples.