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give me a call?”
    Barbie took the card, scrutinized it, and shoved it in her shorts pocket. “Sure.”
    Katie nodded. “Thank you for your time.”
    Without a word, Barbie turned and slammed the door.
    Rose blinked, confusion shadowing her eyes. “You’d think she’d want to help. After all, Heather
was
her best friend.”
    Katie sighed, directing Rose down the steps. “It was a long time ago. I’m afraid the people Heather knew have gone on with their lives.”
    Rose frowned, taking in the shabby trailer with a sweep of her hand. “What kind of a life is this?”
    Katie was tempted to agree with her. Instead, she said, “We knew digging into Heather’s past would be difficult.”
    Rose pursed her lips and nodded. “You’re right. And I refuse to be discouraged so quickly.” Straightening her shoulders, she marched for the car.
    Katie looked back at the trailer. A pale face peered through the crack between the faded curtains at the window. Was it just her imagination, or did Barbie Gordon look downright scared?

Four

    With her pen already poised over the lease agreement’s signature line, Katie paused to read one of the document’s small-print paragraphs.
    The apartment—half a house, really—was absolutely perfect, and the price was unbelievably reasonable. The freshly painted, large sunny kitchen, with its sparkling clean appliances, begged to be filled with the scents of baking. The old-fashioned claw-footed tub in the spacious bathroom would be a heavenly haven to soak in while sipping wine and reading steamy romance novels. The detached garage was the icing on the cake. No more scraping snow from frozen windshields.
    “I don’t understand your pet clause, Mrs. Hildebrandt,” Katie said. “It says here that—”
    “‘Pets permissible per approval of the landlord,’” the grim-faced, hefty woman recited.
    Something about her starched demeanor put the fear of God in Katie. But the rental price was so attractive…
    “I don’t allow snakes or other reptiles, large-breed dogs,ferrets, or other rodents.” Mrs. Hildebrandt shuddered at the thought.
    “So that leaves fish—”
    “Tanks must be five gallons or less.”
    “Birds—”
    “Small, caged only, with clipped wings. They must never be allowed to fly free.”
    “And cats.”
    “Must be neutered, declawed, and female only.”
    Katie straightened, knowing her cat Mason fit only one of the three criteria. “Females only?”
    “Male cats stink. They spray the walls and make the house unlivable. I won’t have that.”
    “My cat is neutered, and has always lived inside. He doesn’t spray.”
    “That’s what they all say, Mrs. Bonner. You
did
say you were a widow, didn’t you?”
    “Yes,” Katie said.
    “I prefer widows. I don’t allow hanky-panky in my home. Male visitors must leave by eleven o’clock at night.”
    “Mrs. Hildebrandt, the apartment would be my home, not yours.”
    “If you’ll check the lease, you’ll see that you are incorrect. Paragraph thirty-four, section two, says that I may restrict visitation between the hours of eleven at night through seven in the morning.”
    Katie scanned the page. Sure enough, what Mrs. Hildebrandt said was true. She set the pen down on the counter. “I think I’ve wasted your time, Mrs. Hildebrandt. I’m obviously not the type of person you want as a renter.”
    Mrs. Hildebrandt threw out her ample bosom, her nose rising in the air. “I think you’re probably right, Mrs. Bonner. My tenants must have high moral codes, and I see now that you don’t fit that category.”
    Rose, who’d been quietly standing in the doorway, gasped. “How dare you!”
    “Rose—” Katie cut her off. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Hildebrandt. I hope you’ll find exactly the right person to rent your apartment.”
And may she be just as bitchy as you.
    Katie and Rose trundled down the stairs and walked back to the car in silence.
    “It was almost perfect,” Katie said, wistfully, as