Page 49 of Too Old for This
We came straight to my house from the diner. He was insistent about it, almost crossing the line into rudeness when I mentioned that I had a few things to do today.
“Please,” he said. “Can you just show me where Kelsie was in your house? And Cole, too.”
Rather than tell him to calm down, I reached over and patted his hand. “If it will help, I’d be happy to.”
My downstairs bathroom is turquoise blue. The counters, the tile, even the design on the floors. This was not my choice; it was this way when I bought it. Over the years, I’ve tried to soften it up using different-colored towels and soaps, but none of it has helped. Most people look a bit overwhelmed when they first see it. Tula is no exception. He stops and looks around before remembering why he is at my house.
“Kelsie was in here?” he asks.
“She and Cole both used this bathroom. Cole was also in the kitchen. That’s where we had tea and cookies. But Kelsieand I sat in the front room the first time she showed up by herself. The second time, I brought her into the kitchen to show her where he had been.” I smile and nod, like I’m confirming all of this to myself. “Although I can’t remember if I made tea for Kelsie.”
“Did she find anything?”
“Pardon?”
“Did Kelsie find anything in the kitchen?”
“No. She looked around everywhere—even on the floor and in the corners. But she didn’t find anything. Then she went to the hall bathroom. She was in here for a long time.”
“Doing what?”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “I’ve never speculated about what people do in the bathroom, and I’m not going to start now.”
Tula’s face turns pink. “Right. Sorry. That’s not what I…Did she say anything when she came out of the bathroom?”
“Cole.” I say his name without hesitation.
“Cole?”
“Cole. Well…actually, she said more than that. She said…‘F-ing Cole.’”
Tula blinks at my near use of profanity. I can say that word as well as anyone else, but right now, in front of a detective, it doesn’t seem appropriate.
“Did she say anything else?” he asks.
I step back farther in the hallway, using my cane to balance. “I don’t think I can tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Kelsie was on the phone and rushing toward the door,getting all frantic about something. I asked if everything was okay. She stopped and said, ‘Yes, everything is okay.’ And then she asked if I could keep a secret.” Pause. Big sigh. “That was almost an insult, to be honest. You can’t live as long as I have without knowing how to keep a secret.”
Tula doesn’t interrupt. He waits. Rubs his temples. Shakes his head. It feels like he knows whatever is coming next won’t be good. That says a lot about what he thought of his partner.
He knows as well as I do that people can’t keep secrets. All you have to do is shut up long enough for them to talk.
And I do.
“She found an earring. A pearl stud.”
Tula’s eyebrows shoot up. He takes out his notepad. “An earring? Like the kind Plum was wearing?”
“Yes.”
“Did Plum use this bathroom?”
Now I smile. “Everyone has asked that. Cole, Kelsie, and now you. No, Plum wasn’t here that long. She never asked to use the bathroom.”
“So someone put it here?”
