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We were on our way to Union Square when my cell phone rang.
“It’s Momma,” I said as I answered it and put the call on speaker. “Hey, Momma. How’s Phillip doing?” It was my go-to reaction since his surgery, and I was starting to understand why he didn’t want anyone to know what he’d gone through. He didn’t want his cancer to define him, or his mortality. Jake had implied as much earlier, but I hadn’t seen it until that moment in my own reaction.
“He’s doing a bit better,” she said, “but that’s not why I’m calling. I just spoke with Jenny.”
“How did you manage that? I thought the ban on outside communication was unbreakable,” I answered. My mother was something to reckon with, but even she had her limits, which was hard for me to realize sometimes.
“She wasn’t at the retreat yet,” Momma said. “I got her on her cell phone as she was on her way. She confirmed Mindy’s story. They were together for an hour and a half, from a quarter till six until a quarter after seven. That’s more than the time you needed to be sure of, wasn’t it? Clearly Mindy didn’t do it.”
“Was she positive about the exact time?” I asked Momma.
“Oh, she knew it well. It seems that Mindy spent the entire meal they were together lamenting over her lost love. Jenny said she kept checking her watch the whole time she was over there, so she knew exactly how long she was there. There’s no denying the fact that Mindy Fulbright is in the clear.”
“Thanks, Momma. You’re the best,” I said.
“This was one of the easiest things you could ask me to do,” Momma said. “Next time, give me something more difficult, will you?”
“I’ll try,” I answered with a grin as I hung up.
Grace hadn’t said a word, but once the phone call had ended, she said, “So that takes Mindy off our list once and for all.”
“I’d say that’s progress,” I said.
“We still have three likely suspects though, and remember, Gabby herself said that Mindy was a long shot,” Grace reminded me.
“I didn’t say we were ready to accuse the arsonist yet, but when it comes to potential bad guys, you have to agree that three is better than four.”
“And one is even better,” Grace said. “Suzanne, we’ve got to make something happen while Gabby is still under Bo’s protection.”
“I agree that time is of the essence, but do you honestly think Bo is going to abandon his post just because the hospital administrator says he has to leave?”
“No, but Gabby can’t keep looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life, either,” Grace said.
“We’ll make something happen,” I said with more confidence than I felt. I’d never put myself under such a strict deadline before, and I didn’t like it. My style was not nearly so aggressive usually, but special times called for special measures. At least I had Grace with me. Between the two of us, we’d make something happen if it were at all possible.
After all, Gabby was counting on us.
“I don’t have any more time for the two of you,” Manny said the moment we walked through the door of his store. The place had just opened a few minutes earlier, and at least for the moment, we had the owner to ourselves. “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
“Then we’ll make it quick,” I said. “I thought you might like an update. Is Buster around?”
“He’s in back,” Manny said, “but he’s busy. Whatever you’ve got to say, you can say it to me, and I’ll tell him later.”
That wouldn’t do at all, since I wanted to gauge both men’s reactions to the news that Gabby’s memory was coming back, and I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t the one who broke the news. “Get him, Manny. It won’t take long.”
He looked at me stubbornly, clearly about to refuse again, when Grace piped up, “We’d be glad to hang around if it’s not convenient now. I’m sure Buster will be out here sometime today, and while we’re waiting, we can talk in front of your customers about everything we know about who might have tried to kill our friend, including the two of you.”
Manny stared at her for a long second, and then he called out, “Buster, get out here.” While we were waiting, he snapped, “Make it quick.”
“We will,” I promised.
As Buster walked out, he asked, “What’s up, boss?” And then he spotted us. “Hey,” he said uncertainly.
“Hey,” I answered brightly. “We’ve got good news. Gabby’s memory is coming back. The doctors say that by this evening, she’ll remember everything that happened the day of the fire.”
“That’s good news,” Manny said, clearly distracted by something.
“Yeah, I’m glad, too,” Buster added, not sounding nearly so convincing.
“Have you told Tyra yet?” Manny asked us.
“Yes,” I said, but I was confused by his question. “Manny, are you dating her, too?”
“You didn’t know that?” Manny asked, looking angry with himself for inadvertently helping us. “We went out a few times, right up until the day before the fire. She didn’t make the cut, so I dumped her. I figured Gabby had already blabbed to you about Tyra. She found out by accident, but it was no big deal.”
“I’m not sure Tyra felt that way,” I said.
“Listen, I know you both think I’m a bad man, and maybe I’m not the greatest guy in the world, but I’m happy Gabby’s getting her memory back,” Buster interjected. “If it really happens, she’ll be the first one to tell you that I didn’t do it, but I have my doubts.”
“The doctors seemed pretty certain that it would,” I said, trying to see why Buster sounded so confident.
“Yeah, well, if they said that, they’re lying to you. I looked it up on the Internet. In a lot of cases like this, those memories never come back,” he said matter-of-factly.
Maybe that was why he was so assured in his statement. Buster believed we were bluffing, and he was going all in on his bet.
A few customers poked their heads in the door. “Are you open yet?”
Manny put on his best smile. “Come on in and have a look around.” He then turned to us and said in a near whisper, “You’ve said what you needed to say, and now you two have to go.”
It was clear we’d gotten all we were going to get out of both men, so I turned to Grace and said, “He’s right. Let’s head out.”
Grace nodded, and once we were outside, she asked, “Can you believe Manny was seeing Tyra, too?”
“The fact that he dumped her just before the fire looks bad, too,” I said. “Do you think it’s odd that Tyra didn’t say a word about going out with Manny to us?”
“It’s not something you’d want to voluntarily bring up though, is it? Remember what Mindy confessed to after we pressed her on it? She knew what Manny was capable of, and yet she still asked him over for dinner,” Grace said as we headed back to my Jeep.
“That’s true, but we still need to ask Tyra about it, and press her even harder for an alibi,” I said. “Are you up for another drive back to April Springs?”
“You could probably make that trip with your eyes closed,” Grace said as I started off.
“Maybe, but if it’s all the same to you, I’m not going to try it,” I said with a grin.
We were getting closer.
I could feel it in my bones.
Something told me that there was just one more missing piece, and then everything would come together once we had it.
The problem now was knowing where to look for it.