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Gina—the way she’d floated through life, how she had
never even tried to find a job—Dewey guessed she wasn’t that
organized or busy enough to need a calendar. He was right. The
calendar had never been used.
    He dialed Faye. She wasn’t able to give him
any leads, but she said she’d e-mail him Gina’s credit and debit
card statements for the past few months. Without wasting any time,
he called Gina’s best friend, Sandra Wyatt. He’d gotten her name
and number from the list Faye had given him when they first
discussed the case. A woman answered.
    “ Hi, my name is Bob
Tooman,” Dewey said, offering a fake name. He didn’t want to leave
a trail. “Is this Sandra?”
    “ Yes, it is.”
    “ Gina’s mom hired me to
help settle her affairs, and she told me that you’d be happy to
answer some questions. Is there any way I could meet you somewhere?
It’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m trying to return a few
things to their rightful owners, make sure everyone is aware of her
passing, that kind of thing. It’ll just take a few minutes. I can
come to you.”
    “ Anything to help. I’m at
Pearlz Oyster Bar with some friends.”
    Dewey promised he’d be there in thirty
minutes and let her go. He could have asked the questions over the
phone, but that would have been lazy detective work. It’s always
best to get in front of them. To let them see you’re human—and to
catch them in any lies.
     
    ***
     
    Dewey called Sandra on his cell as he
arrived at Pearlz, and she came out and met him. Sandra was a dark
blonde with light blue eyes. A Louis Vuitton handbag hung from her
shoulders and a sign on her forehead said she was a former sorority
girl through and through. Dewey had a love/hate with her kind. They
took a seat outside at one of the empty wrought iron tables lined
along East Bay. It was windy and warm, a nice combination.
    “ Thanks for meeting me,”
Dewey said. “I know this isn’t easy to bring back up.”
    “ No, it’s not.” She was
sipping a Cosmo but appeared sober.
    “ Did it surprise
you?”
    “ Yeah, absolutely. She
didn’t seem that broken up to me over anything. I know she had some
problems in the past, but I thought they were over.”
    “ How long have you known
her?”
    “ We met at the
College.”
    “ The College of
Charleston?”
    She smiled. “Yes, the College of Knowledge.
I guess this was…ten years ago. We were both Tri-Delts.”
    Ding! Ding! Yep, he was right. Yo,
ho, ho, a sorority life for me! Dewey
loved and hated sorority girls, especially Tri-Delts. His first
broken heart was a Tri-Delt at the College of Charleston, back when
Gina and Sandra were in diapers. This girl had ripped him apart,
and he was still thinking about it.
    A young man in a mustache approached the
table and asked if Dewey wanted anything. Dewey almost said that
he’d love a half-liter of vodka and a dozen oysters shooters, but
he held his tongue and shook his head. Being at a bar surrounded by
alcohol was not easy business for him, but that was part of the
drill. He had to get used to being the only one without a drink in
his hand.
    Looking back at Sandra, he asked, “So you
didn’t pick up any sadness last time you two hung out?”
    “ Not at all. She was on
top of the world.” Sandra frowned. She suddenly seemed suspicious.
“What does this have to do with cleaning up her affairs? What did
you say your name was again?”
    “ Bob Tooman. These are
standard questions. It helps if I understand things.” This girl had
read too many mysteries. “Do you know who Gina was seeing? I have
some of his stuff I’d like to get back to him.”
    “ Mrs. Callahan already
asked me that.”
    Dewey tried a more sympathetic approach.
“Sorry, I didn’t know that. I haven’t gotten much out of her. She’s
pretty torn up.”
    “ Yeah, I know. She and
Gina were really tight. Anyway, I don’t know if she was seeing
anyone. She hadn’t told me about it. Could have been a one-night
stand. It