Chapter 18: Welfare Check

I came in through the kitchen with my braid down and sawdust on my sleeves.

The deputy stood in the front hall with his hat in his hand.

He was a big, red-faced young man, and I had known him since he was in the Little League.

Beside him a woman in a navy coat held a clipboard against her chest.

Two of my guests sat at the dining room table with their coffee, pretending not to listen.

"Hanna," the deputy said. "I'm sorry about this."

"Don't be. Ask what you came to ask."

The woman from the county smiled carefully.

"Mrs. Vesey, we had a call that you've been wandering the grounds at night, confused. That you've said you might hurt yourself."

"Who called?"

"I can't say."

"My husband."

"I can't say," she said again, and glanced at the clipboard.

"Would you mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Go ahead."

"What's today's date?"

I told her.

"Who is the governor of Maine?"

I told her that, and the name of the county, and what I'd had for dinner.

"And last night, Mrs. Vesey. Where were you?"

I felt the guests go still at the table.

"I was next door at the boatyard," I said. "I went at ten and stayed till the phone rang. I was with Jude Calhoun. In his bed."

The deputy examined the ceiling.

One of the guests, a woman in a blue fleece, put her cup down very carefully.

"I'm separated from my husband," I said. "I wasn't wandering. I walked across my own lawn to a man I like."

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