“Mr. Manchester’s death was for the best,” Talley said. “He wasn’t a kind man.”

“What did he do?” Ivy asked. “Did he hurt Ann?”

Talley fussed with the folds of her blouse. “I was always up early or late reading that summer. I saw more than I should.”

“What did you see?” Ivy asked.

Talley knit her hands together and settled them in her lap. “It was the night before Peter Manchester died. He and his wife had not been getting along. They’d both had too much to drink at Carlotta’s show.”

Ivy imagined Talley rewinding an old tape, tensing as she readied to hit play again on a movie that she had no desire to see. “Where were you reading? I always liked being by the pool late at night. It was very peaceful.”

“I liked the pool as well,” Talley said. “The waters were so calm and quiet at night, and I could stretch out in the lawn chair and read under the floodlight.”

“What did you see?” Ivy said softly.

“I’ve bottled this up for so long,” Talley said. “I never even told Ruth all this, and for so many years we told each other everything.”

Dalton sat back, and Ivy could see he was struggling to be patient. He was a decisive man, and he didn’t mince words, but for Talley’s sake he allowed her story to find its own meandering path.

“These pictures came from Carlotta’s camera, which Ruth left for me to find in the cottage. I think they wanted all the stories to be told,” Ivy said.

“I heard the wreck is back,” Talley said.

“Yes,” Ivy said. “How did you hear?”

“I’ve friends who have family in the area. Word gets around.”

“So you’ve heard it stirs up spirits,” Ivy said. “Say what you need to say so they can have peace.”

Talley drew in a breath. “Mrs. Manchester came running out of her room and toward the pool deck. I was sitting in one of the deck chairs reading. I curled up in a small ball and did my best to look invisible. Mr. Manchester grabbed his wife by the arm and got right in her face. Said he’d found the letters when he was moving boxes at their new home. He knew her secret.”

Ivy glanced to Dalton’s curious expression. “What secret?”

“I guarded this secret for a long time,” Talley asked. “I should have told Ruth, but I didn’t.”

“There’s no one to hide it for anymore,” Ivy said.

Talley shook her head. “I should have told Ruth, but Aunt Edna begged me not to.”

Peeling back the layers wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Some stuck, others tore, and instead of ending up with neat, even layers, all that was left was shredded pieces.