Page 27 of Little Empty Promises

The pink house, which I’d always referred to as the Pepto Bismol house, had been on the market for some time.The darling older couple who’d owned it had priced it far higher than it should have been.It sat vacant for a while, and then the couple wised up.They reduced the price, but not by much.When it still didn’t sell, they reduced it a second time, and then a younger couple swooped in and made an offer, which the owners accepted.

“Have you met the couple who bought the house?”I asked.

“I haven’t.”

“Mom makes it a point to know everyone in the neighborhood.I’m guessing she’s met them.Did you tell Foley about the argument you witnessed?”

“I did.He stopped by and talked to the woman last week.”

“Did he tell you anything about their conversation?”

“He said the wife was polite.She remembered speaking to Cordelia, but she denied they’d had an argument.”

“Are you sure they were arguing that day?”I asked.“I believe you.I’m just trying to get all the facts straight.”

“One hundred percent.I know what I saw.”

“Did Foley happen to mention their names to you?”

Phoebe nodded.“The wife’s name is Rosalyn Westwood.Can’t remember the husband’s name.”

“Did Rosalyn tell Foley what her conversation with Cordelia was about?”

“She said Cordelia’s cat kept getting out, and it was hanging out in Rosalyn’s yard, which upset her dog.”

“I didn’t know Cordelia had a cat.”

“It’s Mom’s cat now.”

“What?”

“I guess you haven’t been to her house since she took the cat in.Spoils the dang thing more than she ever spoiled us.”

We both laughed.

It was good to see her smiling again.

“I never thought Mom was an animal person,” I said.

“Me either.Guess she is now.”

Maybe Rosalyn was telling the truth, and the argument had been over a cat.Or maybe she was lying, and the story about the cat was a diversion, smoke and mirrors to keep Foley from the truth.

“When you saw them arguing, did it seem like they were discussing a cat?”I asked.

“In my opinion, whatever they were disagreeing about seemed a lot more heated.”

“How so?”

“I may not have heard what they said to each other, but the more they talked, the more upset Rosalyn became.At the end, she started pointing at Cordelia’s house in such a way that made me think she was telling her to get off her property.”

“Did you see how their conversation ended?”

“I did.Cordelia walked back to her place, and she was wiping her eyes.I think she’d started crying.I thought about going over and seeing if she was all right, but I didn’t want to get involved.Now I’m wondering if I should have.”

“It’s hard to know what to do in that situation.”

“Their conversation has been on my mind ever since I found out she died.I’ve been wondering if there’s more to the story than what Rosalyn says.”

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