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Vera gasped and shook her head. She, too, was on her feet, apparently determined to stand toe to toe with her niece rather than cower in her chair. The empty rocker swayed as Jensen, carrying his son, returned to the room.
The baby was in full-fledged wail, and he said loudly, “I need a bottle.”
“In the fridge,” Vera snapped, turning back to Remmi. “I already told you I didn’t even know the woman. This Trudie. Never met her.”
“What about you, Jensen?” Noah called out. “Your cell phone connected with Trudie’s. A little over a year ago.”
Through the archway, Remmi saw Jensen as he opened the refrigerator, the now whimpering baby on his hip. Deftly, he placed a pre-made bottle in the microwave. “I don’t even know who you’re talking about,” he said over his shoulder.
Noah pressed on. “The trouble is, we’ve got the phone records, and I’m sure the police do, too. So it looks like you, or someone who had access to your phone, dialed Trudie Crenshaw, then hung up when they realized they’d used the wrong phone and called back on a prepaid phone, a burner, supposedly untraceable.”
“Supposedly?” Vera repeated as Jensen returned and sat in the recliner. He tested the bottle, dripping milk on his wrist, then, satisfied the formula wasn’t too hot, let his son start sucking from it.
“There are ways to trace burner phones based on where the phone was purchased,” Noah said, and Remmi guessed that he was bluffing a bit. “The police will know.”
Vera was wagging her head, but Jensen, holding baby and bottle, glared at her from the recliner.
“Mom?” he said. “You know it’s a sin to lie.”
“I never—”
“That’s what Jesus told us, right? Isn’t that what you always say? Ten commandments and Psalms and proverbs . . .” He was looking at her, daring her to lie. When she opened her mouth, he said softly, “God and Jesus, they’re wa
tching,” and, at that moment, Remmi realized he’d been waiting for years to throw his mother’s admonishments back in her face. He was actually enjoying watching her squirm, a part of the old Jensen surfacing.
“Proverbs 12:22, ‘Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,’” Vera said, as if the words were torn from her soul.
“Yeah, Mom, that’s it. God doesn’t like liars.”
To Remmi’s amazement, a tear rolled down Vera’s cheek as some of her anger slid away. “It just wasn’t fair,” she squeaked out. “Edie had so much and I . . . we . . . we were the good ones, and we had so little.”
A muscle worked in the corner of Noah’s jaw. “So how much was it worth to you?” he asked.
Vera closed her eyes.
“Jesus, Mom. Tell me this isn’t happening,” her son said. He stood up abruptly, the baby crying in his arms again. “Tell me you’re not the biggest hypocrite on the planet. That you didn’t have anything to do with those people getting shot!” His face was a mask of horror, and even though Monty started to cry again, Jensen didn’t pay any attention.
“Of course not.” Vera walked to the front door, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t know anything about that. But . . . but the money.” She weighed her answer as Jensen waited, and finally she said, “I did get some money. Twenty-five thousand dollars. That might sound like a lot, but it’s really not, now that the book is doing so well . . . I got a pittance for all the trouble I went through.” She sighed and shook her head.
Was it regret?
Or an act?
Noah asked, “So that’s it? You got twenty-five grand?”
Vera looked at the floor. “I worked out a deal with Ned and Trudie.”
“And now that Trudie’s dead?” Noah pressed. “What happens to her royalties from the book?”
“I don’t know. Probably her heirs, I would guess.”
“What if she doesn’t have any? What happens if Ned dies?” Noah pressed.
She shrugged, but not convincingly, and she changed the conversation. “It’s terrible, the poor woman. I’ve told you everything I know. Yes, I worked with Trudie. Yes, I told her all about Didi’s life, the Missouri growing up part, a bit of sibling rivalry, but that’s it. I figured Edie owed me.” She met Remmi’s gaze. “Believe me, it wasn’t enough. Not near enough. All the money in the world wouldn’t make up for the pain Edwina put our family through.”
“Did you kill her?” Noah asked.
Her hand flew to her throat. “Goodness, no. Of course not. She was out of my life. I already told you, I have no idea what happened to her. Now, please. Leave. I’ve told you everything I know. That’s all there is.”
