The Housewife(39)

Which is a funny thing to say, considering that’s not what I asked.

I dry my hands on a tea towel. “You two were quite close, I believe. That’s what Roy says. Did she ever tell you that Roy was…” I lower my voice, even though it’s just the two of us in the house. “Doing things to her face?”

She recoils. “Why would you even ask such a thing? ”

“Well, it’s just that in the last week of her life, she shut herself in and wouldn’t come out. That’s what everybody says. But you were around. You must have seen things. What was her face like?”

She shrugs. “Ask your husband.” Ask your husband? My hand, slowly and of its own accord, rises to my cheekbone. I search for the swelling with the tip of my fingers. “You know something.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know anything. Dr. Davies gave me some leave around that time, so I wasn’t around. You really should ask him.”

I blink. “He gave you leave?”

“Yes. For a week.”

“I thought he’d only given you the day off. The day Deborah died?”

“Then you thought wrong. Dr. Davies gave me a week off. There was nothing wrong with Mrs. Deborah when I went on leave.” She hesitates, and her eyes moisten. “She died on the last day, the day I came home.”

I think about this for a moment. It makes total sense. He was doing something to her, and he didn’t want Marie to witness it.

“Did she ever seem scared to you?”

Again, that narrowed look, and there’s a split second of recognition in her eyes before she blinks it away.

I straighten. “You do know something.”

“About her being scared of her husband? Of course not.”

She doesn’t reply. My heart is racing. “No. You do. I can tell.”

She hops off the counter and puts her empty cup near the sink. “I really don’t.”





23





I have a nice lemon tart in the freezer that I baked a few days ago. I defrost it in the microwave, which is something I never, ever do, but I’m in a rush.

Twenty minutes later, I am standing outside Meredith’s house. Dolores opens the door.

“Oh! Jodie! Hello!”

I grab her hand. “Oh, Dolores! Can I tell you, that little cupcake from the other day…”

Her eyes sparkle. “Did you like it?”

“I loved it. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”

She blushes, wiping her hands on her apron. “You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not, truly. Can I get the recipe?”

She laughs, slightly embarrassed. “There’s no recipe. It’s just something I like to make for Mikey. It’s his favorite.”

I shake my head. “You should make batches of them and sell them. The world needs to taste those cupcakes.”

She laughs again. “Oh, now, stop it. Are you here for Mrs. Lyons?”

“Yes. Is she home?”

“Yes. Come on, come in. Can I take this for you?” She gestures to the pie.

“No, thank you, Dolores. I’ll take it.”

I wait in the hall. Dolores returns. “Mrs. Lyons will be with you shortly. This way, please.”

I follow her to the seating room. I sit on the peach-colored sofa with my pie on my lap.

“Dolores?” I ask.

“Yes?”

“You said you knew Deborah?”

“Only in passing, but yes.”

I shift in my seat and lower my voice. “Was there something wrong with her face?”

“With her face?” She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Jodie! Hello! What a nice surprise,” Meredith coos. Dolores scuttles away. “And what is this?” She points to my hands.

“Lemon pie.”

“How yummy. I’ll have it later with Richard. He loves lemon pie. Dolores?” she sings out.

Dolores returns and Meredith hands her the lemon pie .

“Please, please. Sit,” Meredith says, waving at the chair.

“Thank you.”

“I’m so glad you’re here. We’ve been dying to know. What happened to you two last night? Roy looked livid.”

I give her a tight smile. “Nothing, why?”

She looks at me sideways. “He seemed very angry.” She leans forward. “Did you do something wrong?”

I smile and bite my tongue.

“You said something about Deborah the other day, and I’m curious about it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said to Barb, ‘You didn’t see her at the end.’ What did you mean by that?”

She blinks. “Did I say that?”

“Yes. What did you mean by it?”

She pats her hair. “I may have caught a glimpse of her.”

My heart skips a beat. “When?”

“I stopped by the house once, unannounced. I just wanted to see if Roy was all right. He’d been looking so down lately.”

“And?”

“There was no answer, so I went around the back. I thought I got a glimpse of her, through the window.”