There was an old woman

Evie remembered after the fire had been mostly put out, watching in agony, worrying about the dogs. Finally, one of the firemen had gone inside. What felt like hours later, he’d come out carrying Blackie and her pups. They were alive, but barely. She’d watched as a medic held an oxygen mask over Blackie’s snout. She’d promised God that she’d be good, really she would, if only Blackie didn’t die.

It had been quiet then, just as it was quiet now. Evie realized the fire hoses had been turned off. A moment later there was a crash as the roof of the house next door to Mrs. Yetner’s caved.

Firefighters in dark turnout gear broke down the front door and went into Mrs. Yetner’s house. When one of them came out later, carrying three inert bundles, Evie was grateful that Mrs. Yetner couldn’t see that they were cats. White cats. They must have been hiding when Evie had gone in, looking for Mrs. Yetner.

“Another crazy cat lady,” the firefighter said to one of his buddies as he lay a tarp over the three little bodies. “And no batteries in the smoke alarm. That house is a hoarder’s nightmare.”

Of course, that was how it was supposed to look. Evie was about to go over and set them straight when she saw Fi

Cutler was standing behind the screen door. Fi

“This your idea of a business deal?” Fi

“You said do what it takes,” Cutler spat back.

“You moron. I didn’t expect you to try to kill people. You and your goddamned shortcuts.” Fi

Evie felt as if the air had been knocked out of her. Frank Cutler was the cousin Fi

Fi

Evie couldn’t bear to even look at Fi

She heard Fi

Evie handed Ivory over to Mrs. Yetner and ran over to Ginger. She didn’t need to ask. She knew their mother had died.

Chapter Sixty

A week later, Mina was getting used to living in the trailer that the city let her park in her driveway. She was sitting in its dining nook, savoring a final sip of tea and scratching Ivory behind the ears. Every day she was walking farther and feeling stronger.

It would be months before she could move back into the house. Fire had gutted her downstairs bedroom; smoke and water had had their way with the rest of the house. The marble mantel had survived, and of course the entire interior of the upstairs bedroom could be brought back from across the street once the house was scrubbed clean and painted. She was lucky: the house next door was a total loss, boarded up and waiting to be demolished.

So far, Frank Cutler had been charged with fraud, arson, kidnapping, and murder. Mina wanted him charged with hit-and-run, too. She was sure he’d been at the wheel of the black pickup truck, probably borrowed from Fi

Newspapers detailed the exploits of Frank and his firm, Soundview Management; how they preyed on the elderly, getting them to deed their homes in return for a lifetime income and then speeding their demise. Mina still couldn’t believe that Frank and Fi

Dora turned out to be Celeste Hall, the woman who’d taken Mina and Brian on their tour of Pelham Manor. Silver haired under a brunette wig, she was being held, too, though Mina wasn’t sure on what charges.

Brian insisted that he’d known nothing about what the rest of them were up to. According to him, “Dora” told him that Mina had had a stroke after she returned from the hospital, and that it would be an act of mercy (Dora’s words, according to him) to move her into Frank’s house, where she could get round-the-clock care and wouldn’t even realize she’d left home.

Brian admitted that the papers Dora had tried to get Mina to sign would have deeded the house to Soundview Management. But setting her house on fire and removing her smoke alarm batteries—he’d had nothing at all to do with that, or so he said. Mina was pretty sure he was responsible for putting her purse in the refrigerator, hiding her teapot whistle, and maybe even burning her chicken.

When Mina was feeling generous, she could convince herself that Brian believed he’d had her best interests at heart. And if it hadn’t been for those poor cats, she might have been able to get past the betrayal. But standing by as the house burned with those poor creatures trapped inside? That was a bridge too far. Not that it was entirely his fault. He’d inherited all of Mina’s father’s ruthless avarice and sadly none of his common sense.

Since the fire, Mina had thought long and hard about her father. She came to the conclusion that for too long she’d basked in his name and swept his transgressions under the rug. It was time for her to make what restitution she could. But how? All she had to show for her father’s thievery was the house. She’d spoken to a lawyer and changed her will so that the property went to benefit efforts to preserve Soundview Lagoons. On top of that, she was determined to air the truth about her father and his sins.

So, when Evie was helping her move into the trailer and asked her again about her father’s dealings with Fi

“Your father did swindle him out of his land, didn’t he?”

“He did. My father was a visionary and a brilliant businessman. He was also a narcissist, a rogue, and a scoundrel. He could convince himself that whatever he wanted was right and fair, and that he’d earned it. Anyone who stood in his way was a fool. Sadly, Fi

Mina carried her teacup all of two steps to the sink. She looked out the trailer window at the boarded-up windows of the house next door. It was a myth that the Jamesons were ever coming back from Florida, a myth kept alive so that Mrs. Yetner and her other neighbors wouldn’t start asking questions.