Part 14 (2/2)

”Sorry. The Literary Ladies. Stand by one. Bill made a round of the house. The girls in the booth were getting very giggly, and so was their designated driver. Bill served up a round of sodas and forced a jumbo order of nachos on them. She came back and settled in across from Prince.

”The Literary Ladies were formed in 1988, November, I think. She smiled at a memory. ”First book we read was Toni Morrisons Beloved, Beloved, because it won the Pulitzer that year. Scared the s.h.i.+t out of everyone, and nearly busted up the group right there. One woman never did come backwhat was her name, Margaret, Melody something? Anyway, we never saw her again. I havent seen her since, as a matter of fact, so she must have moved away. because it won the Pulitzer that year. Scared the s.h.i.+t out of everyone, and nearly busted up the group right there. One woman never did come backwhat was her name, Margaret, Melody something? Anyway, we never saw her again. I havent seen her since, as a matter of fact, so she must have moved away.

Prince was more interested in the current members, and said so, with emphasis.

”All right, all right. Theres me. There was Lydia, of course. Theres Alta Peterson, who owns and minds the hotel. Theres Mamie Hagemeister, you know her, and theres Charlene Taylor and you know her, too. Theyre all originals, except for Charlene, who joined when she was posted to Newenham, back in, oh, 1992, I guess. Sharon and Lola are newcomers, the youngsters in the group. Sharon joined when she was still in high school, and about two years later brought Lola in. Sharon does hair down at the Prime Cut and Lola works in the cannery in the summer and answers the phone for the Angayuk Native a.s.sociation in the winter.

”Youre all pretty close?

”Pretty close, Bill said cautiously.

”You dont seem sure.

”Close for getting together only once a month, Bill said.

”Any disagreements?

Bill raised one eyebrow, but Prince refused to back down. ”Of course we fight. Lola married the wrong man, we told her so, and she stopped coming for the duration of her marriage, about thirteen months, I think it was. Charlene arrested Sharons cousin Richard for fis.h.i.+ng inside the markers up Kulukak River, and Sharon stopped speaking to Charlene until I found him guilty, and then she stopped speaking to me instead. Alta was p.i.s.sed at Sharon because Sharon gave Alta a punk-rock haircut without permission, and she stopped speaking to her until it grew out.

”Anybody ever get mad at Lydia?

”Nope. Not that I remember. Well.

”What?

”She used to tell raunchy stories that embarra.s.sed the h.e.l.l out of Sharon and Lola.

”Raunchy stories?

”Yeah, I think she liked giving them the needle. Especially the younger ones. h.e.l.l, if half the stuff she said about her and Stan Sr. was true, she wasnt even bragging.

”What kind of stuff?

Bill grinned. ”One time, when the kids were off on a basketball trip to Anchorage, Stan Sr. borrowed a pair of handcuffs off Martin Gleasona city cop here, before your timestripped Lydia b.u.t.t-naked and kept her chained to their bed for twenty-four hours, during which he invited five guys over to play poker in the kitchen. He visited her between hands, with the other guys thinking he was using the john. She said after the second time all he had to do was walk into the room for her to come. Lola just about died.

”Jesus. Prince remembered Mrs. Lydia Tompkins, a short, plump, bright-eyed woman who had most definitely achieved elder status, and tried to reconcile that picture with the s.e.xual dynamo Bill was describing.

”Yeah. I want to be Lydia when I grow up. Bill paused. ”It must have about killed her when Stan Sr. died.

”So you never had any disagreements with her yourself?

”Oh, h.e.l.l, yes. You cant be even once-a-month friends for over twenty years and not fight. Not if the friends.h.i.+p is real. I told her she was spoiling Karen and she was mad at me for, oh, about five minutes, I think it was. But Lydia could never stay mad at anyone for long.

Bill sighed. ”I should be angry at who killed her. I should be breathing fire and smoke up one road and down another, as far as roads go in this town, until I sniff out the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and annihilate him. But all I can think of is that Ive lost a friend, and all I can feel is tired.

It was the closest Prince had ever heard Bill come to admitting to human weakness, and she didnt know quite what to say in response. She fell back on formula. ”You cant think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt her?

Bill shook her head.

”Can you give me directions to Lolas house? I can track down everyone else.

”Okay. Bill drew Princes notebook to her and began to write.

Alta Peterson, owner and proprietor of the Bay View Inn, Newenhams only hotel, was long-limbed and lean in the best Scandinavian style of construction, and wore tiny little round gla.s.ses through which she was peering at a copy of Girl with a Pearl Earring Girl with a Pearl Earring . The book was propped in her lap. Her feet were propped on the check-in counter. She wore a lime-green sweater over a pair of polyester slacks the color of Welchs grape juice, and an orange chiffon scarf in an artistic knot at her throat. . The book was propped in her lap. Her feet were propped on the check-in counter. She wore a lime-green sweater over a pair of polyester slacks the color of Welchs grape juice, and an orange chiffon scarf in an artistic knot at her throat.

Prince narrowed her eyes against the glare and cleared her throat.

”Diana. What can I do for you? Alta did not leap to her feet. This was Newenham. It was October. Jo and Gary Dunaway and Special Agent James G. Mason were the only three customers she had at present, and she wasnt expecting Diana to bring her any more.

”You hear about Lydia Tompkins?

”Yes.

”Im talking to everyone who knew her.

”Uh-huh.

”Bill Billington tells me you were a member of Lydias book club.

”Yes.

”You were good friends?

”Yes.

”Before she died, did she say she was having trouble with anyone? Anybody threatening her, anything like that?

”For what reason?

”I dont know; I was kind of hoping you could tell me.

Alta closed the book, marking her spot with one forefinger, but she didnt pull her feet off the counter. ”Lydia Tompkins was a good and true friend of mine from the time my husband first brought me to Newenham. If anyone had threatened her and I had heard about it, I would have sought them out and kicked their behind. Whats more, I would have had to stand in line to do it.

”She had a lot of friends?

”She didnt have anything but friends.

”You remember her talking about any problems she might have had with her children?

”No.

Alta had elevated the monosyllablic response to an art form. ”Well, if you remember anything ”If I do. Alta opened her book again.

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