“Did she mention that she was having trouble with anyone lately, her children, business acquaintances, friends?
Bill blew out a sigh. “I still cant believe shes dead. I would have bet my last dime she would have outlived the youngest of us.
“Bill?
“Sorry. Children. Stanley Tompkins left Lydia very well-off. One or the other of them had money before they married; some said it was Lydia, but I dont buy that. Her father was a local fisherman who never made it very big, who drank a little too much, and who fathered a few too many children ever to be seriously in the chips. Stanley, now, I think she married Stanley because he was her fathers exact opposite. A very hard worker, and from the stories I hear tell from the old farts had an absolute genius for finding fish. Clarence knew Stanley pretty well.
“Clarence Saguyuk?
“Yeah. Anyway, when Stanley died, he left Lydia well dowered and all the children well provided for. None of them have to work unless they want to. She indulged in a snort. “And most of them dont.
“What do you mean by that?
“Stan Jr. is the only one of them with a real job, but even he plays at it. You ought to take a look at that boat of his sometime, the Arctic Belle . Its got all the bells and whistles on it, thousands of dollars of electronic equipment; I think he bought the first GPS in the Newenham boat harbor. He gets a new reel practically every year, hes always upgrading his skiff, he gets one hole in his gear and thats it, got to hang some new and right now, too. Hes the nicest one of the kids, certainly the easiest one to talk to, but hes fifty-five going on twelve. Or fifty-six, she added. “I dont keep track of my own age, let alone anyone elses.
“Does he live beyond his means?
“I dont think so. Id bet Karen does, though. Shes a shopper, that girl; she never walks in here in the same outfit twice running and shes always got some new piece of gold-nugget jewelry hanging off her.
“Is he married? Stan Jr.?
Bill shook her head. “No. Hes had a thing going off and on with Carol Anawrok for years, ever since high school. It stopped while she was married to Melvin Delgado, and then started up again after Melvin died. It stopped again while she was married to Keith West, and then started up again after Keith died. Bill shook her head. “Both cancer of the lungs. Carol keeps marrying smokers.
“And the rest of the kids?
“Betsys the oldest, about fifty-six or -seven, I think. Her husband is David Amakuk, whose family moved down from New Stoyahuk. Hes a foot shorter and two feet wider than she is. They met in high school, married the week after they graduated. He runs the Daisy Rose, a drifter I think Betsy financed. He does pretty well out of it, generally comes in just under high boat. They have two daughters, Daisy and Rose, both living in Anchorage now. Jerrys the other son. She paused.
“Whats wrong with Jerry?
“Everything.
“That sounds pretty comprehensive.
“Hes one of those lost souls, no ambition, no direction. Hes been up before me on possession I dont know how many times, and DWIs, too. I took away his drivers licence and I threatened to suspend the rest of the familys, too, if they didnt keep him away from a steering wheel. Stan Sr. tied up Jerrys inheritance so that hed get an allowance from Lydia, so he wouldnt blow it all on one toot at the Great Alaskan Bush Company in Anchorage. Which Jerry is capable of doing, if nothing else. His apartment is in Lydias name; she pays all the bills. Paid.
“Did Jerry resent having his money tied up that way? Would he threaten Lydia to get more?
Bill reflected. “He was more along the lines of pathetically grateful, would be my guess. The most wretched thing about Jerry is that he knows just how worthless he is. He knows hed be homeless in a heartbeat if he had control of his own money. She shook her head. “I remember one time, during one of the possession busts or whatever it was, he told me he had a home and a fixed income, and that he wasnt a vagrant. He was proud of it.
“Great.
Bill regarded Prince not without sympathy. “Yeah, I know, youd like a motive. Sorry about that.
“There was no forced entry. Its likely she let whoever it was in.
“Who in Newenham locks their doors?
“Yeah, well, okay, never mind. Theres a fourth child, isnt there?
“There would have been, if Karen had ever been a child.
“I beg your pardon?
“That kid was sprung full-grown from the head of Zeus, and when she landed she was hot to trot and ready to go. Shes very pretty, which doesnt help. During her high school years alone, there were three accusations of statutory rape brought against three different boys, all dropped for lack of evidence. She moved into one of the Harborview Town Houses the week after she graduated from high school, I think the better to see which boats are in and which crews are available for plucking. She doesnt have any other vices of which Im aware, doesnt smoke, doesnt drink much, doesnt do drugsdoes the local provider, though; she and Evan Gray were an item a while back, but I think she wore even him out. She surely likes her men.
“Anything kinky going on there? Something that might result, say, in blackmail? That she needed money to pay off? That she might go to her mother for? And her mother might refuse her?
Bill laughed. “Karen would consider it advertising.
Prince sighed. “Okay. What about her friends? What about the ladies who lunch?
“The Literary Ladies, Bill said.
“Sorry. The Literary Ladies. Stand by one. Bill made a round of the house. The girls in the booth were getting very giggly, and so was their designated driver. Bill served up a round of sodas and forced a jumbo order of nachos on them. She came back and settled in across from Prince.
“The Literary Ladies were formed in 1988, November, I think. She smiled at a memory. “First book we read was Toni Morrisons Beloved, because it won the Pulitzer that year. Scared the shit out of everyone, and nearly busted up the group right there. One woman never did come backwhat was her name, Margaret, Melody something? Anyway, we never saw her again. I havent seen her since, as a matter of fact, so she must have moved away.
Prince was more interested in the current members, and said so, with emphasis.
“All right, all right. Theres me. There was Lydia, of course. Theres Alta Peterson, who owns and minds the hotel. Theres Mamie Hagemeister, you know her, and theres Charlene Taylor and you know her, too. Theyre all originals, except for Charlene, who joined when she was posted to Newenham, back in, oh, 1992, I guess. Sharon and Lola are newcomers, the youngsters in the group. Sharon joined when she was still in high school, and about two years later brought Lola in. Sharon does hair down at the Prime Cut and Lola works in the cannery in the summer and answers the phone for the Angayuk Native Association in the winter.
“Youre all pretty close?
“Pretty close, Bill said cautiously.
“You dont seem sure.
“Close for getting together only once a month, Bill said.
“Any disagreements?
Bill raised one eyebrow, but Prince refused to back down. “Of course we fight. Lola married the wrong man, we told her so, and she stopped coming for the duration of her marriage, about thirteen months, I think it was. Charlene arrested Sharons cousin Richard for fishing inside the markers up Kulukak River, and Sharon stopped speaking to Charlene until I found him guilty, and then she stopped speaking to me instead. Alta was pissed at Sharon because Sharon gave Alta a punk-rock haircut without permission, and she stopped speaking to her until it grew out.
“Anybody ever get mad at Lydia?
“Nope. Not that I remember. Well.
“What?
“She used to tell raunchy stories that embarrassed the hell out of Sharon and Lola.
“Raunchy stories?
“Yeah, I think she liked giving them the needle. Especially the younger ones. Hell, if half the stuff she said about her and Stan Sr. was true, she wasnt even bragging.
“What kind of stuff?
Bill grinned. “One time,
when the kids were off on a basketball trip to Anchorage, Stan Sr. borrowed a pair of handcuffs off Martin Gleasona city cop here, before your timestripped Lydia butt-naked and kept her chained to their bed for twenty-four hours, during which he invited five guys over to play poker in the kitchen. He visited her between hands, with the other guys thinking he was using the john. She said after the second time all he had to do was walk into the room for her to come. Lola just about died.
“Jesus. Prince remembered Mrs. Lydia Tompkins, a short, plump, bright-eyed woman who had most definitely achieved elder status, and tried to reconcile that picture with the sexual dynamo Bill was describing.
“Yeah. I want to be Lydia when I grow up. Bill paused. “It must have about killed her when Stan Sr. died.
“So you never had any disagreements with her yourself?
“Oh, hell, yes. You cant be even once-a-month friends for over twenty years and not fight. Not if the friendship is real. I told her she was spoiling Karen and she was mad at me for, oh, about five minutes, I think it was. But Lydia could never stay mad at anyone for long.
Bill sighed. “I should be angry at who killed her. I should be breathing fire and smoke up one road and down another, as far as roads go in this town, until I sniff out the bastard and annihilate him. But all I can think of is that Ive lost a friend, and all I can feel is tired.
It was the closest Prince had ever heard Bill come to admitting to human weakness, and she didnt know quite what to say in response. She fell back on formula. “You cant think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt her?
Bill shook her head.
“Can you give me directions to Lolas house? I can track down everyone else.
“Okay. Bill drew Princes notebook to her and began to write.
Alta Peterson, owner and proprietor of the Bay View Inn, Newenhams only hotel, was long-limbed and lean in the best Scandinavian style of construction, and wore tiny little round glasses through which she was peering at a copy of Girl with a Pearl Earring . The book was propped in her lap. Her feet were propped on the check-in counter. She wore a lime-green sweater over a pair of polyester slacks the color of Welchs grape juice, and an orange chiffon scarf in an artistic knot at her throat.
Prince narrowed her eyes against the glare and cleared her throat.
“Diana. What can I do for you? Alta did not leap to her feet. This was Newenham. It was October. Jo and Gary Dunaway and Special Agent James G. Mason were the only three customers she had at present, and she wasnt expecting Diana to bring her any more.
“You hear about Lydia Tompkins?
“Yes.
“Im talking to everyone who knew her.
“Uh-huh.
“Bill Billington tells me you were a member of Lydias book club.
“Yes.
“You were good friends?
“Yes.
“Before she died, did she say she was having trouble with anyone? Anybody threatening her, anything like that?
“For what reason?
“I dont know; I was kind of hoping you could tell me.
Alta closed the book, marking her spot with one forefinger, but she didnt pull her feet off the counter. “Lydia Tompkins was a good and true friend of mine from the time my husband first brought me to Newenham. If anyone had threatened her and I had heard about it, I would have sought them out and kicked their behind. Whats more, I would have had to stand in line to do it.
“She had a lot of friends?
“She didnt have anything but friends.
“You remember her talking about any problems she might have had with her children?
“No.
Alta had elevated the monosyllablic response to an art form. “Well, if you remember anything
“If I do. Alta opened her book again.
Prince took the hint and left.
Mamie Hagemeister was Alta Petersons polar opposite in temperament. She burst into tears at her desk at the local jail and had to be ministered to with Kleenex and a can of Coke from the machine down the hall. “She was the greatest gal, Mamie said, blowing her nose. “One time I was sick with the flu, really sick, and she came and got my kids and kept them for three days so I could sleep. She did things like that for everybody. And she did things in the community, too. She taught Yupik at the grade school, and ran the fund-raising drive for the new fire truck, and donated time down at Maklak Center. She had an uncle who was a drunk. With a rare flash of pragmatism, she added, “Everybody in Newenham has an uncle whos a drunk. But Lydia did something about it. Dissolving once again into tears, she said, “I just dont know who would do such an awful thing. Everybody loved Lydia.
Princes ears pricked up at the news that Lydia had volunteered at the small clinic attached to the tiny hospital that treated drug and alcohol abusers. Users were notoriously unstable people, quick to take offense and slow to take responsibility, with a tendency to hit first when they were high and apologize later when they were sober and about to be jailed for the third time. There was a possibility that Lydia had offended someone and that it had resulted in a confrontation in her home. Counselors in the big city had unlisted phone numbers and had mail sent to a box at the post office. In small towns like Newenham, it just wasnt that hard to find someone.
Charlene Taylor was in the air, tracking down a rumor of a group of hunters going for bear in an area the Fish and Game had closed to hunting the month before. Prince moved on to Prime Cut, Newenhams lone beauty salon, located in the minimall that housed the Eagle grocery store. Sharon Ilutsik was blow-drying Jimmy Barnes hair. Jimmy Barnes, a rotund, bouncy little man and Newenhams harbormaster, greeted Prince with some embarrassment and was out of the chair a second later. Sharon sighed a little over his tip, and then he came bustling back in, even redder of face, to mumble an apology and shove a couple of bills her way. She brightened and accompanied Prince to the espresso stand next door to order a double skinny latte with vanilla flavoring. Prince managed not to gag and got a cup of coffee, added cream and sugar with a lavish hand, and they sat down at one of two faux-wrought-iron tables.
“Lydia Tompkins, Sharon said. “Yeah, we were friends. I usually only saw her once a month, at book club, except when she came in for a haircut. You could use one, by the way, she said, giving Prince a critical once-over. “Youre getting a little shaggy around the ears and the back of your head.
Prince ran a hand through her short, dark curls. “Ill make an appointment after were done here. When did you last see Lydia?
“At the last book club. Saturday before last.
“Did she seem upset about anything? Anything at all, it doesnt matter how unimportant it seems to you.
“No. Although
“What?
“Her daughter showed up about halfway through the evening. I remember because we were right in the middle of sitting down to dinner and Lydia ran her off. Karen was not best pleased. Sharon sipped her latte. “But then Karen is never best pleased by much, unless its a man and hes about to take his pants off.
“Thats a little harsh.
“Harsh but true, Sharon said cheerfully. “Karen defines herself by the men she sleeps with. I swear the girl has notches on her bedpost. Its probably posts, plural, by now.
“Like her mother.
“Lydia didnt sleep around, Sharon said sharply. “She and her husband had plenty of fun, and she liked to tease us with stories about it, but she wasnt at all like Karen. She was a one-man woman. She paused. “At least, she was while Stan Sr. was alive.
Prince stared. Mrs. Lydia Tompkins, plump, seventy-four, mother of four, grandmother of two, brainer of muggers with jars of sun-dried tomatoes, was doing the nasty with somebody? I want to be Lydia when I grow up, Bill had said. So, suddenly, did Prince. “You mean she took a lover?
“Why not? Sharon said, bristling. “She was old. She wasnt dead. Nobody says you have to stop having sex when you hit fifty. Look at Bill Billington and Grandpa Moses.
Prince had fallen into the way of regard
ing Bill as more of a contemporary and an ally in the good fight against evildoers, but when Sharon said it out loud, of course it was true. Bill and Moses were both older than God, and couldnt keep their hands off each other. She readjusted her thinking. “So you think Lydia had a lover.
Sharon hunched a shoulder. “I dont know. I probably shouldnt have said anything.
“Yes, you should, Prince said firmly. “Who was he?
“I dont know. I went to her house about four months ago, and somebody had sent her this big bouquet of flowers, tulips, lilies, roses; it was gorgeous. You know we dont have a florist here, so somebody had to have Goldstreaked it down on Alaska Airlines. I thought at first it was one of her kids, but she blushed when I asked her, and said no, a friend had sent them for her birthday. She never did say who, but I got the impression the friend was a guy. Sharon studied the milky stuff swirling around in her cup, and looked up with a smile. “It was kind of cute, you know? Here she was, seventy-four years old, little old Grandma Lydia, and shes getting flowers from a guy. Kinda makes you not be afraid of getting old yourself, you know?
Lola Gamechuk, thin, dark, and careworn, answered the phone six times while she talked to Prince. Five of the calls were from her daughter, Tiffany, who didnt like her babysitter and wanted Mom to come home right now. The sixth call Lola put through to Andrew Gamechuk, the current president of the Angayuk Native Association and Lolas cousin. Andrew interrupted his game of one-on-one with a sponge basketball and the hoop mounted on the wall of his office, which Prince had been watching through the open door of his office, to take the call. After a moment he got up and closed the door. Prince looked back at Lola.
“How well did you know Lydia?
“Not very.
“You were a member of her book club.
“I saw her once a month.
“Never any other time?
Shrug. “Sometimes in the store.
“Did you know of anyone who was bothering her, someone who might have held a grudge against her, who might have wanted to hurt her?
Silent stare.
“Lola, Prince said, surrounded on every side by Yupik storyknives and finger fans and dance masks and feeling whiter than white, “all I want is to catch the person who did this to Lydia. Did you know that she worked down at Maklak?
Stabenow, Dana - Liam Campbell 04 - Better To Rest Page 13
