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He nodded.
"My brother, Phillip, said you tried to call me? I would have returned your calls." I wanted to be sure Bryan Pascoe marked the fact that he was pushing.
"Yes, but I wanted to talk to you face-to-face."
"All right," I said hesitantly when he'd been at a full stop for a long moment. "Did you want to go to your office?"
"Can we walk around the block? I've been shut in my office all day."
It was brisk, but not truly cold. "Certainly," I said after an uncertain pause. What the heck was going on here? "My legs are short, I don't go at a very quick pace." Robin always seemed to be two paces ahead of me. Thinking about Robin instantly made me feel bad.
"Your legs are fine," he said, again catching me off balance, and off we went.
"Has something come up about John David?"
"Of course I've talked to Miss Burns. For the moment, she backs up John David a hundred percent. She says he was doing legal work for her."
I glanced sideways at Bryan, and he smiled at me. He had gleaming white teeth. "She's been drawing up her will, she says," Bryan added in an absolutely neutral way.
"If Poppy were alive, Romney Burns'd need it." I found myself smiling back.
"That's interesting. Did you see your sister-in-law as a jealous woman?"
I mulled that over. "I don't think she would have wanted to be humiliated, if John David decided to divorce her, or something about his little relationships became flagrant. Like him taking Romney to the company Christmas party, or something like that," I said finally. "I guess that's different from being gut-jealous."
"How do you feel about that?" the lawyer asked.
I felt like that was a strange question.
I stopped and faced him. Luckily, we were on the sidewalk by the side of the little downtown movie theater, and no one was going in or out at the moment.
"What difference does that make?" I could feel my eyebrows drawing together in a frown.
"Personal curiosity," he said.
"I don't know why you want to know." But I could see no reason to refuse to tell him, either. "I thought it was really... distasteful," I said, selecting the mildest word that would fit. "Though I'm not an angel myself, for sure."
"Why are you giving me your opinion in such a tentative way? You don't have to attach disclaimers."
"I don't know you. For all I know, you cheat on your wife every day," I said bluntly. "I hate to sound holier-than-thou."
"Why did you call me yesterday?"
"John David thought of you. You're the best, I hear."
"I am, Aurora."
I felt like I was missing something here. "I'm glad to know you're so confident," I said a little dubiously.
"I was glad to hear your voice on the phone yesterday. I've had my eye on you for quite some time."
"You think I've done something illegal?"
"No, I want to date you."
"I thought you were married, Bryan," I said, genuinely astonished. Come to think of it, he had mentioned "ex-wife" yesterday.
"I was, for five years. We got divorced over a year ago."
"Uh-huh," I said, feeling like he'd just smacked me in the head with a dead fish, or something equally startling. "Well, Bryan, I'm real flattered, but I've been dating Robin Crusoe."
"I know." He smiled again. His smile managed to be confident, predatory, and hopeful, all at the same time. "But my sources tell me he's been flirting with Janie Spellman."
"Ouch," I said sharply. "That was below the belt. Who's your source?"
"I'm not bound by law to cover for her. My source is Janie Spellman herself, who is my cousin once removed."
"Janie is not too particular about whom she flirts with."
"I'm sorry you're angry, but you can't deny it," Bryan said unequivocally.
"I don't have to reply any way at all, deny or admit or any which thing." I glared up at him. "In fact, this part of our conversation is over." Suddenly, I thought of the gas station receipt in my purse. I couldn't let anything slip by just because I was irritated with Bryan. "Now, I need to talk business."
"Talk away." If I'd in any way ruffled Bryan, he wasn't letting it show.
I explained about finding the receipt that morning, about its significance, and told him the names of the people who'd been in my house. Then I looked at my watch and exclaimed, "Oh no! I have to be at Poppy's right now!"
"What for?" Bryan had listened to my account very carefully, which had made me feel better about him.
"The Scene Clean guy is supposed to be at John David and Poppy's house," I explained. "Someone called from SPACOLEC to say the house had been... well, released. So I called Zachary Lee and confirmed."
"I need to see the crime scene anyway. Can I come with you?"
"I guess so," I said ungraciously. We walked back to the library parking lot and I unlocked my Volvo. Bryan talked about local politics all the way over to Swanson Lane. I felt the touch of his attention every time he looked at me, and he looked at me a lot. My cheeks were hot by the time we parked behind a bright yellow van with scene clean and a logo on the side. At least there were no macabre graphics. I fussed with my keys, yanked at my purse, anything to avoid looking into the eyes of the man beside me. We got out of the car and stood at the end of the walkway leading up to the front door. A young man with Asian features was waiting for us. He was absorbed in a book.
I was nervous about going into the house again. "I'm glad Arthur released the house," I said, just to say something.
"I'll bet Arthur has had a rough couple of days," Bryan said, clearly inviting me to ask why.
"Any murder investigation ..." I said slowly. "But that's not what you're implying, is it?"
"I'm sure you have heard that Poppy used to see him. A couple of years ago?"
I thought I was going to pass right out. I could actually feel the blood rush from my head. Bryan put his left arm around me and held on to my right hand with his.
"Good God," I said, trying to gain some time. "But then he should be the last man on earth to be involved in investigating her death!"
Bryan said, "Do you feel all right? Wasn't he your fiancé at one time?"
"No," I said, shaking my head to clear it out. "No, we never... Did you do that on purpose? Spring that on me? Why?"
"You did date him."
"About a million years ago. Way before I married Martin." I gave him an incredulous look.
"I wondered if Arthur had a thing for the women in your family."
"You're confusing me." I stepped away from his arm and walked up the sidewalk to the door, just as I'd done yesterday. I faltered for a moment as that comparison hit me, then picked up my stride.
Bryan was beside me by then. "Hello," he said to the young man waiting on the ornamental bench outside Poppy's front door.
"Zachary Lee?" I asked as he rose. Zachary Lee was much taller than I'd expected, maybe six feet, and looked like a very happy mix of Caucasian and Asian.
"That's me," he said happily. "Zachary Lee, Scene Clean, at your service. I'm a certified crime-scene cleaner, and I've had extensive experience with the Atlanta Police Department. I took a course to learn how to do this properly, and I follow all safety and health regulations."
He beamed at us. Apparently, Zachary Lee enjoyed his work.
"Did the police give you the okay?" I asked.
"Yes, ma'am, and Mr. Queensland, the husband of the deceased, gave me his permission to do the job. By the way, he said to tell you thanks." Zachary's teeth were perfectly straight and white, and his eyes tilted pleasantly when he smiled, which seemed to be most of the time.
"I'm Aurora Teagarden," I said, "and this is Bryan Pascoe, Mr. Queensland's lawyer."
"Pleased to meet you" was said all around.
"Let me just show you the, um, site," I said, fumbling with the words. "Mr. Pascoe wants to have a look before you clean it. I'll wait here until you're through, then lock up after you."