He stayed quiet. It was not just that a comment by him would upset her more; he was sure she really did not want him to speak. He doubted that she believed everything she had said. She was too far into this to see what had moved her to do it. As a way of getting to MacIver’s mother, he said that MacIver had never named her as beneficiary to his insurance. He, Leland, had thought that curious until he had met Mrs. MacIver for himself.

He described the home in Canby, exterior and interior, then its occupant. As well as he could, he transcribed the conversation that had taken place. Finally he told Norma about the door being slammed against his back.

“It didn’t actually hit you, did it?” she asked.

“Oh, no. I would sue her if it had. I just want you to have an understanding of the person who thinks of you as ‘that little Guinea.’”

“I never did hear what she thought of me—what she thought of the things Colin told her.” She looked at Leland. “Suppose she finds out about the baby and tries to take it from me? If she had a smart lawyer, she could make a lot of trouble.”

“I don’t think so. You have your Dr. Roberts and I’ll testify to what happened this morning. She’s a lot older than her years. Maybe even Murray Kaminsky would say that in court. In his estimation, she’s senile.”

Now she saw that he was trying to direct the conversation. She asked about the way Betty Kaminsky lived. When she heard, she asked what her husband looked like. Leland told her and she said, “I don’t think he’s my type.”

He regarded her. “That isn’t an issue, is it?”

“In a way. I was jealous of her when Colin was alive, but because she was never a subject of conversation, my feelings didn’t matter much—or I never had the opportunity to explore them. You can guess what I want to know now.”

“If she was pretty,” he said.

“That’s right.”

“Norma, you know you’re an attractive woman. I won’t lie to you, so is she, but you’re both such different types that I don’t think the question of looks was a concern to him.”