All Shots

Harvard.”
    “ABD. Does that mean something to you?”
    “All but dissertation. In what?”
    “Statistics. She works, too. Teaches a course. Consults, whatever that means. And she knows this Dr. Ho. They’re not friends. She says they know each other from some group that hates Superman. What’s wrong with Superman?”
    “It’s not just Superman, Kevin. It’s media characters in general.”
    “I gotta tell you, Holly, you’re being a lot nicer about this than she is. Wants to know everything, wants to see everything, wants action. She’s wicked pissed.”
    “At a woman who had the misfortune to be murdered? Well, I don’t exactly like it that the woman went through my trash, but she obviously got a lot worse than she deserved. Kevin, is all this about identity theft? Because I don’t think my identity’s been stolen. I do all my banking online. I keep a close eye on everything, and there hasn’t been anything suspicious.”
    “Checked your credit lately?”
    “No. But I will. Kevin, did she say anything about the guy on the motorcycle? The one I told you about. Adam-Did he show up at her house?”
    ‘“Preposterous notion.’ That’s a quote.”
    “He said something about someone named Calvin. Had I heard from Calvin? Or maybe had Calvin said something… I don’t remember. Yes I do. He said, You haven’t heard from Calvin?’ As if I should have. Or as if he expected me to have heard from Calvin, whoever he is. I was so angry at Leah for leaving this guy, Adam, in the house that I wasn’t paying all that much attention. Did I tell you about that? Leah let him in, and when she went out, she left him sitting in my kitchen. I mean, Leah reads Latin, she’s taken all these premed courses for vet school, she gets As, and she can be totally brainless. It sometimes seems to me that Harvard ought to have a required course on common sense.”
    “I hope you chewed her out.”
    “I did. She won’t do it again. Or she won’t do exactly the same thing again. But I worry about her.”
    “Speaking of that, there’s one other thing.”
    “Kevin, I know what’s coming. The cop-mentality lecture, right? The world is a dangerous place. We all have to stay on high alert all the time, or we’ll—”
    “She was younger than you. Early twenties or so. Different, uh, style. Long fingernails, nail polish, lots of makeup. Capri pants. Is that what you call them? And those high-heeled sandals with no backs. She smoked. Traces of methamphetamine. Whole other world from you.”
    “Good,” I said.
    He dug back into his steak. I passed the time by nibbling on a few french fries. Finally, I said, “And?”
    “There’s this other thing.”
    “What? What other thing?”
    “I’m not saying she was some kind of twin of yours or anything.”
    “Her hair. Kevin, you seem to have forgotten that I saw her. Not her face, but I did notice her hair. It was about the same color as mine. Same length.”
    “Same height as you, more or less. Same build.”
    “Average height, ordinary build.”
    “She dyed her hair.”
    “This is my natural color.”
    “Like I said, she dyed her hair the color of yours.”
    “And the color of a million other people’s! For all we know, it’s the most popular shade of hair coloring in America. Well, it probably isn’t. It’s too reddish for most people. But if you’re suggesting that she was trying to look like me, that’s... let me quote the other Holly Winter. It’s a preposterous notion.”
    “And the picture of the dog?”
    “The photo you brought with you has to be a copy. Of course it is. You must have other copies. I want this one. I’ve never seen this malamute before, but I’m going to a show tomorrow, and I can hand it around. There’ll be other malamute people there. There’s one person in particular who knows everything about blue malamutes. Phyllis Hamilton. I mentioned her before. She has a dog entered. I want to show this picture to her.”
    “Go ahead.”
    We ate silently for a minute. Then I said, “Kevin? Not that I buy this theory of yours. Not at all. But... you said she wasn’t some kind of twin of mine. But was there...?”
    “Like I said.”
    “Hair, height, build. Her face?”
    “Not really.”
    “What about this other Holly Winter?”
    “What about her?”
    “Kevin, talk to me! Do you think that the dead woman was trying to look like her, too?”
    “Nope. The other one’s a scrawny little thing with a short haircut. Severe-looking