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“I’m going out, just for a few minutes, Alice,” May said, and nodded toward the two people in the kitchen as she went quickly out the front door.
“I’ll bet she fed you a lot of bull,” Alice scoffed.
“Enough. What’s she still doing here, now that Mrs. Downing is deceased?” He knew the answer, but wanted to have Alice corroborate it.
“She’s convinced Mr. Downing that he needs someone to keep a watch on his blood pressure.” She rolled her eyes. “As if he couldn’t drive to the doctor’s office every day if he needed to. She’s like a tick. She’s attached herself to him, and he’s having trouble getting her loose.”
He chuckled in spite of himself. “Does he find her attractive?”
“Well, I heard him tell an old friend that if he had to choose between May and a mule, he’d take the mule!”
He had to stifle a laugh. “She seems to think she’s irresistible.”
“She’s the only one. Maybe that ex-boyfriend thought she was,” she added. “She was holding the ladder for him when he fell.” She glanced his way while she worked. “Anybody can stand on a ladder, unless they’re pushed.”
“You think she pushed him?”
“He’s been conspicuous around here since Julie died, and he makes May very nervous. If anybody was involved in that, it’s those two. Wouldn’t surprise me if he knew something he shouldn’t and May’s afraid he might talk.”
“Hence the falling ladder,” he mused.
“Exactly. And here’s a piece of free advice. If you ever get on a ladder at this house, make sure May isn’t holding it for you!”
“That’s one promise I can make and keep,” he assured her. He asked several other questions, mostly about Downing’s daily habits and May’s background, but Alice was stumped when it came to the nurse.
“Nobody knows anything much about her locally,” Alice told him. “She came here from Denver.” She shook her head. “I heard that Annalisa checked out her grades and they were almost all just shy of failing.”
His eyebrows went up. “Do you know everything about other people here?”
She laughed. “It’s a small-town thing. You get used to it.”
“I’m afraid I never would,” he replied.
Alice just smiled at him.
* * *
He went back to the motel much later, dragging himself out of the car with a long sigh. He noticed that Annalisa’s car was also under the carport.
The porch light came on as he closed and locked the car door.
“Hungry?” Annalisa asked from the doorway.
“I had a hamburger about”—he checked his watch—“ten hours ago.”
“I made meat loaf and mashed potatoes,” she said. “And apple pie.”
He drew in a breath. “If that’s an invitation, I’ll accept it. I’m too tired to go out and try to find food at this hour.”
She grinned. “I’ve got an hour before I have to be at work. I can’t bear to go on the job with an empty stomach.”
He laughed softly. “I would have imagined the opposite.”
She held the door open for him. “It depends on what we get and how bad it is,” she said. “I threw up one time, when I’d just started training.” She made a face. “I never did it again. The orderlies ran me ragged about it. And everybody knew. I guess it’s sort of an initiation.”
“We have them in law enforcement as well. You never show weakness in front of your unit. It’s always a mistake.”
“I can imagine. Sit down. Want coffee?”
