Page 52 of Sweet Talking Man


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She picked at a bit of cheese before tossing it in her mouth. Silence descended.

''Actually, searching for my father is what brought me to Magnolia Bend."

Her head snapped up. "Wait... you think your father lives here?" She sounded incredulous, as if Magnolia Bend were way too small or dull to harbor an unknown father.

"When my mother died, she told me my father was still alive. Growing up, she never spoke of him no matter how much I pestered her. But near the end, she told me that she'd never told him about me and begged me to find him. She wanted to make things right, but she also told me people thought she killed someone. Or something like that."

"Wait, what?"

"Her exact words were 'They think I murdered a man."'

"But she said your father was still alive? That doesn't make sense."

He crossed his legs, sipping the wine as he stared into the flames. "I know, but she was in a lot of pain and not very lucid. Bone cancer. The last few weeks were very hard. They gave her a lot of drugs."

"So she implied he lived in Magnolia Bend?"

"She lived here for half a year. She was one of the last artists who lived at-"

"Oh, my God, your mother was Calliope?" Abigail's mouth dropped open.

Leif felt part dread and part relief. "Yeah."

"Oh, my God."

"So you said."

She snapped her mouth closed, the furrow on her forehead growing deeper. "She killed Simeon Harvey."

"I suspected that's what many thought when I learned the circumstances around Simeon's death, but Hilda said- "

"Hilda?"

"She invited me to brunch yesterday and hit me with the fact she knew I was Calliope's son."

Abigail laughed. "My cousin is a sharp lady, but even so, how did she know?"

"I look like my mother. If I looked like my father, it would be easier to find him. Hilda said she'd help, but I wanted you to know, too, though I hope you'll keep it on the down low.”

"Of course. You need to talk to Bart. His uncle was a quirky fellow with odd habits. Very Faulkner-esque. Though I was a toddler when he died, I heard about it. Anytime a man worth millions plunges to his death, it becomes local folklore. Everyone knows the story."

"What version do you know?"

"That nothing was proven. Bart found her with his uncle's body and said your mother had convinced Simeon to change his will, leaving everything to her. Frankly, Bart painted your mother as some sort of trickster. He said Simeon could no longer walk so your mother rolled his chair to the second-floor landing and pushed him down the stairs. He broke his neck."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because Simeon had discovered that she’d been trying to swindle him. He said he was calling the police."

Leif pushed the breath he'd been holding from his lungs. He bated hearing his mother cast in that light. "None of that makes any sense."

"Why?"

"First, my mother wouldn't allow me to kill a scorpion in our house. If she wouldn't kill an insect, she certainly wouldn't kill a crippled man. Besides she said theythoughtshe killed him, not that shehadkilled him."

"Bart said he found his uncle at the bottom of the stairs and Calliope panicked and ran when she saw him. Supposedly he heard them screaming at each other just before he heard the crash of his uncle coming down the stairs. Maybe there was some sort of a struggle."

"Maybe so but my mother wouldn't fight over something like money."

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