Look Again - Lisa Scottoline [76]
Ellen didn’t want to go there. “Do you know the family?”
“Sure, Carol’s a doll, and so is Bill. And that little baby, Timothy, he was adorable.”
“Adorable,” Linda repeated, without breaking stride. “That baby was so cute you could eat him.”
Ellen hid her emotions. The brown bag crinkled in her pocket when she walked.
“What a shame.” Linda shook her head, her rich brown eyes tilting down at the corners. She had an oval face with a largish nose, and a thick gold chain with a coral horn bounced on her bosom as they turned the corner, passing a large brick Georgian mansion, more Monticello than Miami.
“It’s so sad.” Phyllis made a clucking sound. “They shot the babysitter, too. It doesn’t seem fair. It’s like when people rob a store and shoot the clerk. Why do they have to shoot somebody? I don’t know what gets into people nowadays.”
Ellen didn’t say anything. Phyllis and Linda didn’t need the encouragement to keep talking, and she was running out of breath anyway. A fireball sun climbed a cloudless sky, and the humidity was 120,000 percent. They passed a woman walking a black poodle, and Phyllis waved to her.
“Carol and Bill were in terrible shape, after it happened. It just about killed them. There were reporters camped out on the street day and night, bothering them all the time. Cops and the FBI, always coming and going.”
Ellen let her talk, to see what she could learn. They reached the next corner, turned around the block, and walked past a house intended to look like a Roman temple.
“Bill was a great father, too.” Phyllis sipped from her water bottle. “You know, he has his own investment company, very successful. He makes a lot of money for people in the neighborhood, and he doted on his son. Bought him golf bibs and a golf hat, too. Remember we saw him, Lin?”
Linda nodded. “Carol had such a hard time getting pregnant. I’m not telling stories out of school here. She talked about it all the time, right, Phyl?”
“Yes, she had a very hard time.” Phyllis’s lips flattened to a lipsticked line. “They tried for a long time. She really wanted that baby, they both did. Now look what happened.”
Ellen felt a stab of guilt, flashing on Carol as Mother Goose.
“The poor woman.” Linda wiped her upper lip. “Isn’t that just the worst luck? They finally had their miracle baby, then they never see him again. End of story.”
“There’s no justice,” Phyllis said, puffing slightly.
“It’s a sin,” Linda added.
Ellen didn’t know it was possible to feel more guilty than she felt already. She had always thought of Will as her miracle baby. But he could have been Carol’s miracle baby. Only DNA would tell for sure. She needed that sample.
The moment passed, and Linda said, “You know, if you live long enough, you realize there’s nothing you can’t handle. I lost my husband and I lost my kid sister. If you asked me, I never would’ve thought that I’d be standing here afterwards. Life makes you strong, and death makes you strong, too.”
Ellen was thinking of her mother.
Phyllis shook her head, which jiggled slightly as they rounded the block. “She always says that, but I think she’s full of baloney.”
“Ha!” Linda waved her off. “Go ahead, tell her about the waves.”
“Okay.” Phyllis looked over at Ellen and her lined face grew serious, even as she pumped her arms like a pro. “I lived in Brooklyn all my life. We couldn’t believe it when we retired down here, everywhere with the water, the intercoastal, and the ocean. We loved it. My Richard used to fish, I went out with him on the boat. On the boat is where I get my best ideas.”
“It’s boring, take it from me,” Linda stage-whispered behind her hand. “She makes me go. I wanna drown myself.”
“Are you going to let me talk to our guest?” Phyllis asked, mock indignant.
“Go ahead, just don’t take the long way.” Linda turned to Ellen. “I’m Italian, so I love to talk, and