Page 59 of Wrong Mail

"Or he didn't need to be their installer."

That stops me for a second, because it's the one answer I didn't have ready.

And that is where I stop letting her run.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, he pulled two men off me in the dark, Julia. He saved my life."

"Yes. Funny how he was there."

I shake my head. “Oh, now you sound like David."

"There's a difference. David doesn't want another man in your life. I don't want you dead." She doesn't blink, which is worse. "You can't see it, because you've got a vested interest in those cases."

"Julia, listen to yourself for a second." I turn on the stool to face her. “Days ago it was David. Now it's Henry. You've got two men in the frame and not one motive between them. Why would Henry Westburn move here and kill two people he'd never laid eyes on? He doesn't need their money. He doesn't want their house. He sure as hell doesn’t want attention." I let it hang there between us. “But do you know who did lock horns with Peggy and Brant? More than once, in front of people? Chris."

It's cruel and it's true, and I watch it go in.

"I'm not saying it wasn't Chris." She doesn't flinch, and that's worse than if she had. "God knows I'd put less past him this week than I used to. I'm saying Henry is hiding something. He's a little too good to be true."

"Why," I say, as dry as I can manage, "because he's single?"

“Yeah, he lives alone, has no history, and turns up out of nowhere being kind to lonely women." She counts it off on her fingers. "That should make you wonder, Mallory."

And it's so exactly her, so exactly the two of us, that I laugh, and then she's laughing too. For a second, it's an ordinary morning again, the two of us laughing over cold coffee.

Then she stops laughing and leans in.

"But wouldn't you like to know," she says. "For certain. Where he was that night. I could find out if he has a security system."

My head feels like it's going to explode.

"Don't." I see it coming and I get there ahead of her. "And don't you get any ideas, either. You're not letting yourself into that man's house. Not after a break-in on this road and two people dead. You'd be on someone’s camera inside a minute and the police would throw the whole book at you. Absolutely not."

"I wasn't thinking of me." She lets the next part land soft. "I was thinking of you. He's warmed to you. You're the one he opens the door to. You’ve already been invited in. You'd only have to keep your eyes open while you were standing there."

"You're joking, right?" It comes out fast. "I'm not going through a grieving man's home, picking through his things, on the strength of a feeling in your gut. That's a vile thing to do to a person. I won't do it."

"Then let me." She says it like she's offering to pick up milk. "Your birthday's at the golf and country club, isn't it? You'll be there. David will be there. Henry, too, if he's working this hard to be part of your life."

"Julia."

"I'm just saying the house would be empty."

"No."

"That house will sit empty for hours. I would be quick. You could text me if he leaves the party."

"Absolutely not."

"Fine. I won't, but you really are a buzzkill." She lifts both hands. "Just think. If I don't show up, everyone will assume Chris is being Chris, which is depressing but convenient."

"That is not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"It's not."

Her smile fades first. "Come on, Mal."