She clawed a cheek. “The man used to be pure sunshine. And brilliant. He had a repertoire of thousands of jokes, could rattle them off by category—you name it, he’d know twenty gags. After Doris’s funeral I moved out and got a job at a rest home. Two months later, Mel called me. When he asked me out, I thought it was for old times’ sake—to thank me. When he showed up at my apartment all spiffed up with a corsage, I was taken aback—shocked, really. I had no idea. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I went along with it. He took me to The Palm, we ate steak, drank great wine, and I ended up having the best time of my life. He was . . . We dated for a long time. I finally agreed to marry him two years ago. I quit smoking for his health. I know the age difference is … but it’s not what it seems.”
“No need to explain, ma’am.”
“Sure there is,” she said. “Sure there is—there’s always a need to explain. I know you’re thinking this is another May-December gold-digger routine. But it isn’t. Mel’s well-heeled, his art alone . . . But we have a prenuptial, and I don’t know the details of his finances—don’t want to know. I get an allowance. I’ve never asked him to amend his will. He’s the nicest man in the world. Until recently we—”
“Ma’am—”
“—just had the greatest time. Traveling, taking cruises, living life. Lau-ren only met him a few times, but she liked him—he made a point of telling her how gorgeous she was, ‘a regular Marilyn.’ She never got that from her father. Lauren’s never gotten anything from her father, and maybe that was my fault.”
She sobbed. I sat down next to her.
“So Lauren didn’t come by often,” said Milo.
“She was always busy. With school and all that—the times she was here, she loved Mel’s jokes.” Her eyes hardened. “Lyle never told her jokes. Lyle wouldn’t know a joke if it— There wasn’t much to laugh about in our family. I’m sure you remember that, Dr. Delaware.”
I nodded.
“What agrim life we had. Mel taught me what real living was all about. Then, a year ago, he had the first stroke. Then another. And another. His legs went first, then his mind. Sometimes he’s clear as a bell, but mostly he’s like what you just saw. My other baby. Thank God the elevator was already in place for Doris or I don’t know what we’d do. So it’s not that bad. He weighs next to nothing, getting him in the chair’s no problem— my training. Bathing him’s a bit of a— But no big deal, for the most part,things go smoothly.” Her face constricted, and tears gushed from her eyes. “For the most part, they go very very smoothly.””
I took her hand. Her skin was dry and cold, thrummed by an unseen tremor.
“He’ll be beeping me soon,” she said. “He misses me when I’m not there.”
“Do what you need to do, ma’am,” said Milo. “We’ll work with you.”
“Thank you. You’re sweet. Oh, this is … oh …” She threw up her hands, laughed horribly.
“A few questions, ma’am. If you feel you can handle it—”
“I can handle anything,” she said, without conviction.
“Some of these questions are going to seem stupid, but they need to be asked.”
“Go ahead.”
“Can you think of anyone who’d want to harm Lauren?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Everyone loved her. She was sugar.”
“No ex-boyfriends? Anyone with a personal grudge?”
“She never had a boyfriend.”
“Never?” said Milo.
Silence.
Jane Abbot said, “She was going places. With her work, her education. Didn’t have the time for relationships.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“She told Mel that. When she’d come over, he’d say ‘You’re so gorgeous, doll. Why no stud on your arm?’ Or something like that. She’d laugh and say she didn’t have time to waste on a man, and Mel would make cracks about if only he were two hundred years younger. . . . When— If he figures out what happened, it’ll crush him.”