Chapter 21

“Well, did she do it?” she asked bluntly.

Wendell and Thomas looked at each other.

“No, Mrs. Loring,” Wendell admitted, “we don’t think she did it.”

“Hogwash!” Anne exclaimed. “You either know or you don’t. That’s just like the government: never make a clear statement when you can confuse the issue. Don’t pussyfoot around with ‘we don’t thinkshe did it.’ Stop your sentence at ‘We don’t think’, period, end of sentence.”

With that, Anne stalked out of the room.

After a short silence, Lori spoke. “I’m sorry for that, Mr. Adreopolous. It has been a very stressful day. Nerves are running very tight.”

“That’s not a problem, Mrs. Spruille. We expected as much.”

“And please stop calling me Mrs. Spruille. I’m Lori. We need to save time to help Cameron,” Lori explained graciously.

“That we do, Lori.” Wendell smiled. “You said your husband will be home soon?”

Lori looked at the clock over the mantel. It was 4:50 P.M.