THURSDAY
"I can't believe you did this without me!" Maizy practically yelled. "Why didn't you call me? I was bored out of my mind this week. All Jasmine wanted to do was lie in the sun all day long and bake. And she had the hots for this lifeguard even though he was way too old for her. He was, like, thirty." She leaned forward between the seats. "Anyway, I thought we were partners," she accused me.
"We are," I said, looking at Curt. He grinned back at me. We never had gotten around to the sort of vacation I'd had in mind, but as he'd pointed out, we did live in the same house, technically speaking. The logistics couldn't be better. And we couldn't have fit much more into the four days we'd had.
"And you." Maizy glared at the back of Curt's head. "You used your cell phone to let the cops listen and record the whole thing?" Her face softened. "That was pretty smart, Uncle Curt."
"It was your father who suggested it," Curt told her. Which made sense, since Maizy's father was a cop himself. "After he called the Ocean Beach police and convinced them I wasn't a nut case. And it got the job done."
"You got my dad involved in this, and you didn't call me? God, this is so unfair." Maizy pouted for a few seconds before curiosity got the better of her. "So what happened? Did they find Annie's body?"
I nodded. I'd spoken with Carolyn before we'd left and filled her in on Randy O'Brien's arrest for receiving stolen property, and even better, on Eddie's arrest for murder. The police had notified Annie's family and the family had called Carolyn immediately afterward. Eddie had been a waste of skin, but he'd told the truth about where he'd buried Annie. The authorities had found her in another shallow grave about a half mile from Batsto Mansion. Which was another sad irony, since I remembered our eighth-grade class trip had been to Batsto, and Annie had seemed especially fascinated with its history. If my memory served, she'd been animated and actually asked some questions of the docent that day. You just never knew what life was going to drag your way. That's why I'd spent the morning cleaning Howard's house, top to bottom, removing all traces of life, and restoring it to its sterile condition. I sort of hoped he'd lend me the keys for a weekend, maybe in the fall, when the crowds had disappeared and bathing suits were out of the question.
"Her funeral is next Wednesday," I said. I would be there. And I hoped Carolyn would, too. I could learn some things from that woman. Then I could teach them to Maizy. As if she needed any help from me. "And," I added, "it turns out he left forensic evidence after all, under her fingernails. Which should mean Eddie will be looking at the rest of his life through bars."
Which was the single bright spot in all of this.
"It's all really sad," Maizy said after a while. "I mean, who's to say who's a dork and who's not? Annie sounded like she was probably pretty nice. I think I would've liked her."
"I think you would have, too," I told her. I knew I would have.
"And Eddie sounds like a maximus dork to me," she added.
I couldn't improve on that assessment.
"And another thing," she said, still hovering between the seats. "I should be driving. Why aren't I driving? I have to take a driving test in a couple of weeks, and here I am sitting in the back seat like a six-year-old. God!"
Curt looked at me. "Haven't we seen this movie before?" He looked in the rear view mirror. "Give it a rest, Maiz."
"Oh, I see how it is." She sounded insulted. "I'm only good enough to drive one way. What if I've forgotten how to do it? I might accidentally run over Brody Amherst while I'm taking the test, and then I'll never get my license! Hey, you think I can forge one if I don't pass? I've got to consider all the angles here. Just because I run over Brody Amherst doesn't mean I shouldn't get my license, right?"
"Have I ever mentioned," Curt said to me, "that I don't want kids?"
Maizy went still.
"Good thinking," I said. "Kids grow up to be teenagers."
We shuddered in unison.
"Funny," she said sulkily, and sank back into the back seat, muttering to herself while she pulled out her cell phone, probably to hack into the DMV.
"Of course," Curt added, "I'll probably die trying."
"Here's to long life," I said.
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