Part 3 (1/2)

Edward nodded, with a small smile. ”Of course. I'm already a great-grandfather several times over, but Philip's arrival was indeed a surprise. But a happy one, let me a.s.sure you. He's met the rest of my family-I live with one of my daughters now-and they have been quite welcoming.”

Vanessa cleared her throat. ”So, the kid here talked you into coming to look for Edith?”

Both Edward and Philip nodded. ”As he told you, Philip had her maiden name Mercer from the birth certificate,” Edward said. ”I told him where she had been living when I knew her, and Philip was able to track down a Pennsylvania marriage license for Edith Mercer and Robert Hathaway. I gather she and her husband remained here after they married.”

I nodded. ”They did, and she stayed on after he . . . was gone.” Why are there no terms for death that sound neither silly nor cruel? ”She was a very independent person, you know.”

Edward smiled sadly. ”She always was, else we would not be here now.”

Laura Johnson poked her head in anxiously. ”Everything all right in here?” she said.

”Just fine, my dear. We were explaining to these ladies how Philip found me. And we were just getting to the point of how we located Edith.”

Laura looked blankly at him. ”Edith?”

Edward looked distressed. ”Oh, dear-I hadn't realized . . . perhaps you could explain?” He looked at Vanessa.

Vanessa once again a.s.sumed her professional voice. ”Mrs. Johnson, the purpose of our trip here today was to find out if you knew anything about the death of Edith Hathaway on the hill behind your property.”

”What? Oh my goodness!”

”You weren't aware of this?” Vanessa pressed.

”No, I hadn't heard . . . When did this happen?”

”Yesterday afternoon, when you said you were at the mall. I a.s.sume the coroner and his crew had left by the time you and your family returned home?”

Laura was clearly having trouble processing what she was hearing. ”There was nothing unusual here when we came home, and then I sent the kids upstairs and we sat in the living room . . . Uncle Edward, did you know? Why didn't you say anything?”

Edward had aged perceptibly, and I felt sorry for him. ”I was so stunned by what happened that I didn't know what to do. This community is unfamiliar to me, and I had Philip here to consider. I owe you an apology, Laura. But may I complete this interview and fill you in on the details later?”

”All right, I guess,” Laura muttered. ”But I'm staying. I'll let you speak.” She looked at Vanessa to see if she would challenge her right to be here, but luckily Vanessa only shrugged. The so-called interview was already so far from standard that one more partic.i.p.ant wouldn't make a lot of difference, I figured. ”How are you related to Laura, Mr. Fairfield?” Vanessa asked.

”She is a first cousin, twice removed, descended from that uncle that I mentioned. Her grandmother inherited the house from my uncle, and the family has lived here all along. I'm afraid we've rather imposed on her, especially since we've really only met once or twice over the years.”

”And you were staying in this house while you waited to s.h.i.+p out?” Vanessa asked, making a note in her notebook.

”Yes. In 1944 it belonged to my uncle. It was more convenient to the Philadelphia Navy Yard than my parents' home in Pittsburgh. That's how I happened to be here when my friend threw that party-sort of a farewell event.”

”And how did you talk Laura into letting you stay here now?” Vanessa demanded.

Edward sighed. ”If you're asking, no, I didn't tell her the full story. I said that at my advanced age, I wanted to visit all my far-flung relatives one last time, and revisit places I had once known. I suppose I made her feel guilty, but she was kind enough to invite me to stay. I do apologize for misleading you, Laura,” he said to her. She just shook her head.

”How did you explain Philip?” I asked.

”I told Laura that Philip was one of my great-grandsons, which is true, and said we could share a room.”

”You two couldn't have stayed in a motel?” Vanessa asked.

”I had a particular reason for wanting to stay here, as you'll see,” Edward replied.

”Laura didn't know about Edith?”

”That we were once lovers, or that she died up on that hill?”

Laura's eyes widened at that, but she held her tongue.

”Either. Both.” Vanessa definitely appeared frustrated at the slow pace of Edward's replies.

”No, not yet. I would have explained the connection to Laura, were it not for unexpected events. I wanted to make sure Edith didn't object.”

”Where were you yesterday?” I asked Philip.

”I picked up Mrs. Hathaway at her house and brought her here. Then Mr. Fairfield asked if maybe I might like to do some sightseeing, since I've never been to Pennsylvania before. But I knew he really wanted some time alone with Mrs. Hathaway, and I wanted to give them some privacy.” The poor boy looked miserable; obviously his high school project hadn't turned out the way he had expected.

”Hold on,” Vanessa said. ”You'd already met Mrs. Hathaway? Because I don't see her getting into a car with some kid she's never seen before.”

Edward interrupted, ”Chief Hutchins, please, may I go on with the story?” ”Your questions will be answered, I promise.”

”In a minute,” Vanessa said. ”Why'd you bring Edith here? Why not just go to her house and talk with her there?”

”A fair question. This was where I was staying when Edith and I . . . came together. So many years ago . . .” He seemed to be drifting into memories, and I had to wonder how much stamina he had.

I could tell that Vanessa was getting more and more impatient. ”Okay, so you two show up here in Strathmere. Did you go straight to Edith and introduce yourselves?”

Philip spoke up. ”Uh, not exactly. Mr. Fairfield here thought it might be less of a shock if I showed up and talked to her first. He wasn't sure if she'd be happy to see him. So that's what I did.”

”How did she take it?” I asked.

”Fine, really. She asked me in, and we spent a lot of time talking. I was surprised how honest she was, since she didn't even know me. She said she'd often thought about the baby she gave away, but she still figured she did the right thing. She wasn't sure if Mr. Fairfield would come back, either to her, or at all, after the war. She wasn't mad or anything-I mean, they'd only known each other a week. I think she was sorry that she and her husband never had kids, but she didn't say so. Anyway, we got along great.”

I could imagine Edith finding pleasure in that unlikely scene, and realized that the incongruous sodas in her refrigerator had probably been meant for Philip. But I kept silent: I had the feeling we were getting to the important part at long last.

Vanessa apparently agreed. ”So you told Edith about Mr. Fairfield, and you all got together here?”

”Yeah. Mrs. Hathaway handled the news pretty well, so I told her that Mr. Fairfield was still alive, and I asked her if she wanted to see him again, and that if she did, he was here in town at his uncle's old house. She looked surprised, and then she asked if she could think about it-alone. I said sure, fine, and I came back here and waited for her to call me.”

”What time was that?” I asked.

”After lunch, on Thursday, I guess. We'd spent the morning looking at old photos and just talking, and then I told her about Mr. Fairfield, and she said she'd let me know later. And then I left.”

I looked at Vanessa. ”Edith came into the library that afternoon and took out the book that Philip returned. She seemed fine.” She certainly hadn't looked as though she'd just heard life-altering news.

Philip glanced at me quickly, then went on, ”Yeah, well, she called around five and said she would like to meet us the next day. Yesterday morning I went over and picked her up and brought her back to the house here. Then like I said, Mr. Fairfield asked me if maybe I could be somewhere else for a while. I was okay with that.”

”Mr. Fairfield, what did you tell Laura? After all, you were her guests, and she barely knew you, and then you go and invite guests into her home?” Vanessa asked and glanced at Laura; Laura merely shrugged.

”It might've been wrong of us, but she never knew Edith would be coming here,” said Edward. ”She told me that she and the family had planned the shopping excursion, and I pleaded fatigue-I can get away with that at my age-and sent them on their way.”

”That's true,” Laura said. ”I invited Philip to join us, but when he begged off I just figured he was staying behind to keep Uncle Edward company.”