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A
Christina laughed. "One glass will do for starters-I'm a cheap date."
"I doubt that." Words came before thought. Though they sounded harsh, A
The woman smiled easily, crossed her long legs. Piedmont jumped to the floor. Lovely as it was, it was not a good lap for curling up in.
A
"Light it," Christina said. It sounded like the eager request of a child and not an order.
Fumbling with matches, A
Christina Walters dropped gracefully to the floor and began looking through the tape collection A
As she read the spines of the cassettes, Christina chatted comfortably of music. "I used to sing in the church choir when I was growing up in Te
A
"To old friends and better days," Christina said. Sadness touched her face, warmed the brown eyes.
A
"How about this? Sophistication in the wilderness. I love it." Christina held up Cole Porter's Anything Goes.
"One of my favorites," A
"I'll bet he loves it." Christina dropped the tape in.
A
Piedmont, creeping along the sides of the room, skulking under the furniture, sprang out to pounce on the hem of Christina's dress. Putting her hand under the fabric, she moved it around creating a mole for him to kill.
It impressed A
"I want to get Alison a kitten," Christina said. "She needs to learn to be kind because she is bigger, more powerful than something. She needs to have some little life depend on her now. I don't expect she'll ever have a little sister to practice on."
Sadness weighed on Christina's voice and A
Christina said nothing but there was something in her look that made A
Christina refilled her own glass, then poured A
"Let me try again," A
"Perfect!" Christina said, and she actually clapped her hands. Somehow it wasn't phony or coy or childish or any of the things A
"Alison is terrifyingly organized and she's just turned four last month. Why did you say 'organized'? It's an odd word to describe a child."
"I can see her thinking," A
"She is my light," Christina said. "Everything that is good and worthwhile about me has surfaced in that little person. All the bent and broken bits were left out. Alison means the world to me."
There was an edge of desperation-or determination-in Christina's voice that made A
The tape clicked to an end. Neither of them moved to turn it over. Christina was looking into A
"You found the pictures, didn't you?" the woman asked softly.
"Inside the clothes rod in the bedroom closet," A
Despite the situation, Christina laughed. "For heaven's sake!" she said. "I'm impressed. You must be a regular Miss Marple."
She was impressed, A
"We broke in, yes."
"We?"
"Alison and I."
In spite of herself, A
"The heat made it smell," Christina said simply, as if Sheila could come home and be offended by it.
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As if I'd know the difference, A
"Could I see them?" Christina asked.
Wondering what kind of a cop she was to hand over her best and only evidence to the prime suspect, A
There were twelve pictures. Christina looked through them slowly. Her eyes filled with tears. A
"This is fine. Thank you." Christina blew her nose.
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The simple kindness seemed to undo Christina and the trickle of tears became a river. A
In a minute or two the sobs subsided. Christina took a deep drink of her wine and sighed as if she were breathing out her very soul.
"I thought maybe she was blackmailing you," A