“Were Badja and Sean close?”

“Badja made sure he was hired on at the site. I understand Sean hounded him.”

“But were they close?” I said.

“Sean admired Badja’s courage and toughness. Badja adored Sean. Wouldn’t admit it if you had him in thumbscrews. Tenderness is weakness in my brother’s world.”

“This is a personal question—how was the marriage? Any problems? Tension?”

She didn’t hesitate. The disapproving mother-in-law in her pounced.

“The marriage was crumbling. You could detect a chill in the air at family dinners.”

“At least you had family dinners,” I said. “Is it possible there was another person in the picture?”

“Another man? Was Linda cheating, you mean?”

“That’s what I mean.”

She gave this some thought.

“Linda never established any significant relationships here. Sean hung around with colleagues at the Jeffers site. From what I understand, he had some of them over to his house for dinner and the like. My husband and I met two or three in passing. No one sticks out in my memory. Well, there was one fellow . . . A tad rough around the edges. Leather jacket and pomade brute. Sean introduced him as D and was eager that we not exchange more than pleasantries.”

“Strange, isn’t it? Did Sean have reason to fear you meeting his pals?”

“My son was protective of his acquaintances. He dated Linda for six months before he disclosed the fact to us.”

“Why is that?” I said.

“Disappointment. One too many so-called friends betrayed him in his youth. Typical kid drama. He was actually popular. However, every child will experience failed relationships. His were sources of shame. He tired of explaining why this boy or that girl was no longer around the house. By his high school years, it was like prying teeth to get anything personal out of him.”

“No mother-daughter chitchat between you and Linda?”

June Pruitt laughed.

“Dear God, no. We . . . didn’t see eye to eye.”

“Socially? Politically?”

“Anything. That’s why I seldom visited their home. I wasn’t exactly unwelcome, but she kept the red carpet in storage. Easier to let them come to us when they felt social.”

If someone had stuck a gun to my head and made me guess, I would’ve laid money on Sean and Linda’s childless marriage as a bone of contention between widow and mother. Women of a certain age and persuasion want those grandchildren.

“What drew them together? What did she see in your son?”

“That’s a hell of a question.”

“He had difficulty holding down a job, right?” I said. “Linda’s a highly trained, motivated woman. An unequal pairing.”

June Pruitt’s expression wasn’t pleasant. She didn’t tell me to jump into a lake, though.

“Were you ever young, Mr. Coleridge?” Her tone indicated she thought I’d rolled out of the womb a certified jerk. “They were different people in college. Sean had big dreams. The passion of a dreamer can be heady as ambrosia. She recognized his potential, an innate brilliance he inherited from his father. It inspired her own creativity. Linda made the mistake many women do; she decided she could ‘fix’ him. She should’ve accepted him and left it at that.”