“And those incidents happened when she was in high school?” Which would be the reason I hadn’t found any arrest records for her when I’d searched for her name last December. Juvenile records were sealed.

“Oh, yes. She caused trouble when she came back the other times, but nothin’ illegal… not that I knew about anyways.”

“You said she manipulated her aunt. Multiple people have told me she was manipulative.”

“Yep.” She shook her head with a sigh. “And boy, was she a master at it. I’ve never seen so many people bamboozled by one girl. That Drummond boy to boot. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one who broke into that garage and stole the baseball.”

“Do you remember any of the rumors going around when Wyatt was arrested?”

“Only that he turned his back on his family after his arrest. Wouldn’t even accept an attorney from them. Rumor had it the judge gave him a stiffer sentence than normal, but folks figured he was one of the few people not bought and paid for with Drummond money.”

“Do you have any idea where Heather’s aunt lives?”

She frowned. “You plan on talkin’ to her?”

“Is that a problem?” I asked, caught off guard by her question.

“No, I guess I’m just surprised. But that would be awfully sweet of you, dear. I’m sure she’d appreciate the condolences.”

Well, crap. I hadn’t even thought about that, and now I felt guilty for letting Thelma believe my reasons were so selfless.

“Hilde Browning. I don’t have her address, but she lives in the pale yellow house off Freeman Road. About a mile off the county road. Do you know where that is?”

“No, ma’am, but it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll bring her some flowers when I go.”

“She loves Gerbera daisies,” Thelma said, her voice trailing. “Be sure to give her my condolences as well.”

“I’ll tell her they’re from the both of us.”

Tears filled her eyes. “You’re such a sweet girl.”

Guilt tightened its grip on me, forcing me to admit, “That’s not the only reason I’m going, Miss Thelma.”

Her eyes brightened. “Well, of course not, dear. You’re goin’ to ask her questions about Heather’s murder, but there’s no reason you can’t offer your condolences to start.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Please, give me more credit than that.” Then she said, “How’s Greta? She says she’s not seeing the other Drummond boy anymore.”

“I don’t know anything about her love life, but I just saw her a few hours ago when I had lunch and she looked great.”

Thelma nodded. “She seems happy, but I can’t help thinkin’ she’s lonely. She says she doesn’t see much of Lula now that she’s had the baby.”

“Bingham keeps a pretty close eye on both Lula and the baby, from what I can tell,” I said. “But I haven’t talked to Greta about that either.” It occurred to me that perhaps I should. What if she was lonely?

A quick glance to the clock on the wall told me that I needed to leave soon if I was going to get to the Drummonds’ on time. I also remembered that I hadn’t told Max I was going to be late. I turned off the recorder, shut my notebook, and put both into my purse.

Standing, I gave Thelma a warm smile. “Thank you so much for letting me dig into the past.”

“I’m not sure how helpful I’ve actually been, but if I think of anything else, I’ll be sure to call you at Hank’s.”

Her offer caught me by surprise, mostly because she apparently had Hank’s number. Then again, maybe she’d been friends with his wife. Or perhaps she had an old phone book lying around. I was sure Hank had used the same phone number for decades. “That would be great. Thank you.”

As I headed for the door, she called after me, “Be careful where you poke. Something tells me you’re about to wake up a sleeping bear.”

Chapter Fourteen

Gladys and Roberta looked eager to see me when I emerged from the hall, and Gladys frantically waved me over.

“You’ve got company,” she told me when I neared, and pointed out the blinds covering the plate glass window.

Looking out the window, I frowned when I saw a man standing next to my car. “Wyatt.”

“You know him?” Roberta asked. “Because we can go out and rough him up for you.”

My mouth hung open in shock, but I quickly closed it. “That’s not necessary. I know him, and I’m not surprised. I abruptly ended a conversation with him right before coming over here, and I suspect he’s here to continue it.”

“Are you safe?” Gladys asked with worry in her eyes.

I gave her a reassuring smile. “Totally. Wyatt would never hurt me. In fact, he’s out there because he wants to protect me.”

“Does he have somethin’ to worry about?” Roberta asked.

Did he?

“No,” I said truthfully. But I suspected that could easily change—the more I snooped around, the more dangerous things were bound to get. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Always,” Gladys called after me as I headed for the exit.

“You be careful!” Roberta shouted. “You’re our puzzle hookup. If anything happens to you, who knows when we’ll get another one.”

I shot her a grin before I walked out the double glass doors, putting on my game face.

Wyatt was leaning against my driver’s side door with his arms crossed. His dark gaze was trained on me as I headed toward him.

“Do I want to know what you were doin’ in there?” he asked, remaining in place. His pose sent a clear message. You’re not leaving until I let you.

I stopped several feet away, hooking my hand on the strap of the purse slung over my shoulder. “I don’t see what difference it makes to you.”

“We need to finish our conversation.”

“Okay,” I said, shifting my weight. “It’s simple. If you want me to continue looking into this, you need to give me something else to chase down, along with some kind of incentive to put up with your bullshit. You said you were going to give me answers.”

He glanced away, into the trees surrounding the property, then turned back to me. “I asked Heather to marry me. That was what really caused my big fight with my parents. My father actually respected me for demanding ownership of the tavern, and he would have probably given it to me, only I told him I wanted it because I planned to marry Heather and we wanted to start a family.”

I stared at him in shock. “Why in God’s name didn’t you tell me any of that earlier?”

“Because I was embarrassed. She refused to marry me if I didn’t get ownership of the tavern, and no one else knew.”

“Not even her friends?”

“Did Abby mention it?” he asked with a questioning look.

She hadn’t, but then again, she might not have known. According to her, Heather had operated by an out of sight, out of mind policy, and Abby had been out of town when all that went down. If Heather shared the news with anyone, it was likely Mitzi. Who refused to talk to me.