Page 34 of Trick of Light
Marigold signed the paper with a flourish. “Okay, let’s go, Gabrielle Ramon. Unless you have someone who can bail you out right away?” she added hopefully. “Heather McPhee? Maybe Barnaby Carmichael?”
Gabby gave a double take at the mention of that name. “Why him?” Then she waved it off and stood up. “Never mind. I don’t want to be bailed out. Take me to prison, please.”
“It’s not prison,” Marigold corrected, “but whatever. You won’t be the only one in there, by the way.”
“Oh, really?” Gabby did her best to sound disappointed. “And I thought I’d booked a single.”
“Very funny. So listen, when you’re done serving all this hard time, let’s talk more about my dirty rotten bastard.”
“Count on it.” She’d add this runaway bridegroom to their growing file of story ideas.
The lockup was a simple twelve-by-twelve room with wooden benches lining two of the walls, a toilet with a privacy screen around it, and a small window with no visible way to open it. But it was clean and smelled of lemon cleanser and most importantly, there was Tamara, sitting at the junction of the two benches. She was bundled into a cozy poncho, with a scarf wound around her neck, as if Barnaby had insisted she dress warmly for her trip to lockup.
Her face lit up at the sight of Gabby. “Dear girl!” she cried, starting to her feet. Gabby felt a rush of warmth that nearly overwhelmed her. Tamara appeared even tinier in this bland cube, so lost and out of her element. “Are you coming to get me out?”
“No, sadly.” Gabby took her hands in hers. Tamara’s were rough and calloused, her knuckles swollen from a lifetime of gardening. She sat next to her, close enough to share body warmth. “But I am here. I hope that helps a little.”
“Oh, my goodness, it does. I have no one to talk to in here. No birds, no trees, no flowers. I’ve been sitting here trying to imagine how to talk to a bench.”
“How is that going?” Gabby was genuinely curious to know.
“I can sense that it’s a kind entity. But quite reserved. I’m hopeful that he will warm up to me as time goes on.”
“I’m hopeful you won’t be in here long enough for that to happen. I assume Barnaby is working to get you out?”
“Yes, of course, but it seems the alternatives might be even worse.” Tamara squeezed her hand tighter. “You won’t leave me, will you?”
“No.” Gabby put an arm around her shoulders. “We’re in this together, I’m afraid. Let’s just hope my mother doesn’t find out.”
Tamara made a sound very much like a giggle, or an elfish version of one. “In my family, running afoul of the law is a long tradition.”
“I really want to hear more about that, since we have so much time on our hands.” If only they’d allowed her to bring a recording device in here, or even her iPhone…but they’d confiscated that. “But first, quickly, while no one’s paying attention…”
She got up to peer out the door, which had a window meant for looking in rather than out. The glass had something like chicken wire embedded in it. The only bit of a police officer that she could see was Marigold’s long legs propped on the desk.
Back next to Tamara, she murmured, “Does the name Keith Garner mean anything to you?”
“Garner?” Her voice faltered as she said the name. “Oh dear. That poor family.”
“What happened to them? Heather said they fell on hard times and had to leave the island.”
“Yes, yes. The father had an accident. He fell off a roof and broke both his ankles. The mother had breast cancer and Keith,” Tamara shook her head, “he had his own romantic troubles. Everything went wrong for them at once. Such sadness. I tried to help. But sometimes the healing power of the earth isn’t enough.” She rubbed her hand across the rough surface of the bench.
“What about Keith? Did you treat him for something?”
“No.”
That was an unusually abrupt answer for Tamara.
“Was he in trouble with the police, do you know?”
“Oh dear.” Tamara’s dark eyes widened. “I do hope not. He wasn’t to blame, at least not entirely.”
“For what?”
But Tamara pressed her lips together and refused to answer.
Gabby tried one more question. “Do you know if the Garners ever came back to the island? Recently, maybe?”
