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grandma to Jonathon and a mom to Mariah. She’d help the police find out who had done this.
    The tingling numbness subsided, and she felt the warmth of a tear trickling down her face. Earl’s thumb brushed her cheek, and she took a ragged breath of air.
    Tammy laced her fingers together, resting elbows on the table. “This has been a difficult night for all of you. I know you’re in shock. I’ve got your contact information. I may need to interview you more formally later. I’ll need to know more about Mary Margret’s habits, who might have reason to—”
    “Nobody.” Suzanne placed her arms on her bulging stomach. “Nobody wanted her dead. She was the nicest person on this planet.”
    Tammy rose to her feet with the notebook and pen in hand. “I’ll be in touch with all of you. I am sorry for your loss.” Tammy walked the few feet to the door of the interview room. “I’ll escort you out.”
    As Ginger and the others stood, chair legs scraped abrasively on the floor. She winced. With the numbness subsiding, all of her senses had kicked into overdrive.
    Mary Margret’s words ricocheted in her head. “ Something terrible, something from the past. ”
    With Tammy following behind, the four of them walked through the police station, their feet padding softly on the carpet. At the lobby, they returned their visitor badges to the woman behind the glass window. Earl held the door for the women.
    They made their way down the huge concrete steps. The rain had stopped hours ago. The air was heavy with that clean, after-rain smell. A gauzy gray with a hint of light to the east covered the sky. Sunday morning, the Lord’s Day.
    In a couple hours, I’ll have to fix Earl his breakfast. They would go on with their day, finding safety in the same old routine. But the world had shifted. Ginger placed her palm on her chest. The heaviness was almost unbearable.
    They stood at the bottom of the stairs. No one speaking and no one willing to leave. Maybe it was just the veiled light, but both Kindra and Suzanne looked tired and older. All of us are getting older. Time’s passing.
    Time’s passing and my best friend is gone.

Chills trickled over her skin when Tammy listened to the Parker woman on the message tape. She rubbed her eyes, then massaged the back of her neck. She’d have to get the tape turned in to the evidence clerk.
    She typed the final sentence of her report on Mary Margret Parker, noting that the case was still open and that she intended to question the women further. She clicked on an icon to close the file. If she had known she was looking at a possible homicide, she would have interviewed them separately as procedure dictated. But she thought she would only be informing Mary Margret’s friends about her death.
    She usually worked property crimes. They didn’t even have a full-time homicide detective. Maybe Captain Stenengarter would let her work this case.
    Her Betty Boop watch told her it was eight o’clock in the morning. Time to go home to her other full-time job. Trevor, her teenage son, had called three times with problems that ranged from burning macaroni and cheese to his girlfriend breaking up with him.
    Summers were hard for both of them. She had requested the midnight to eight shift so she could be with him during the day. In theory, Trevor was supposed to be sleeping while she worked. Her mom, who lived next door, checked in on him. Despite her planning, the kid always managed to enmesh himself in some kind of drama when he was supposed to be snoring under his bedspread.
    Tammy took her last gulp of Chai tea and tossed the cup in the wastebasket beside her desk. Informing Mary Margret’s three friends of her death had not been easy. Apparently, Captain Stenengarter thought that since she was the token female on the force, she was the best candidate to deal with the emotionally charged situation.
    Hoping to clear the tightness in her shoulders, she took several deep breaths. The memory of