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there?”
                  Billy looked up.  “They’re awesome.”
     
                  “Years ago when wooden barges carrying cargo used to come from up north on the Mississippi, sometimes they were taken apart once they were unloaded,” Sarah explained.  “Then, the wood from them was used for construction.   Those beams used to be part of one of those flat-bottomed boats.”
                  “They add so much character to the place, don’t they?” asked Billy.  “I had never heard about that before.”
                  “I just love them.  Have a seat,” offered Sarah. They sat down on the white cushions of her rattan love seat. 
                  Billy noticed a black upright piano against the large brick wall.  “Do you play?” he asked.
                  “Yes,” Sarah said.  “I had my piano moved from Texas.  I’m lucky it fit in the elevator.”
                  “I guess that’s a lot easier than trying to get it up my front steps,” he joked.
                  “You’re right,” Sarah agreed.  “Once I got here, I was afraid they’d have to bring it up with a pulley.”
                  “I believe it,” Billy said.  “You’re lucky you got it up here.”
                  “I’d feel lost without it,” she confided.
                  “I would love to hear you play some time,” Billy told her.
                  “I’m sure that could be arranged,” Sarah smiled.  “My mother actually teaches music at the college near our home in Texas.  My father is a science professor at the same school.”
                  “Then, I guess your becoming a teacher wasn’t an accident, was it?” he noted.
                  “I think it was inherited,” she laughed.  “You know how people have certain genes for hair color and eyes?  I always joke and tell my parents that I got the ones for teaching!”
                  “You certainly did come by it honestly, no doubt,” said Billy.  “I’ll bet your students just love you.”
                  “I’m pretty crazy about them, too,” Sarah said.  She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Billy seriously. “I wanted us to have a chance to talk in private.  But, this has to stay between us, do you understand?” 
                  “Sure. Shoot.”
     
                  “I’ve given it a lot of thought.  Eddie is missing.  You own his boat.  If he and Charla have been living a lie for all these years and she thinks that you are onto them, she can implicate you in Jessie’s death just to shift the attention from herself.”
                  “What?” asked Billy.  “How is that possible?”
     
                  “She could claim that you knew about this all along.  Did you get Eddie’s boat at a good price?”
                  “Actually, I got it for less than what it was worth.”
     
                  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Sarah admitted.  “Charla could argue that Jessie found out that her father was alive and questioned your involvement in the whole scheme.  To make matters worse, she drowned off of your boat.  Charla could claim that Jessie became confrontational and that you pushed her over the side.  Her death would have meant your self-preservation.
                  “But, Jessie knew me,” Billy maintained.  “She would have never dreamed that I would be involved in such a scheme.”
                  “ You know that and I know that,” Sarah told him.  “But, don’t think for one minute if Charla realizes that you are onto her that she will hesitate to bring that to the attention of the police.”
                  “But, Charla has known me since I was in grade school,” he said.  “When I