Barclay, Linwood Novel 08 - Never saw it coming

she said. “Wendell Garfield.”
    Keisha exchanged a look with Kirk, who was standing to Gail’s side. He mouthed, “What the fuck?”
    “Okay, Gail, come sit down and tell me all about this. Do you want something to drink? Kirk, get her something to drink.”
    “Do you have anything diet?” Gail asked, allowing Keisha to lead her to the couch.
    “Just get something,” Keisha said, sitting down next to Gail, knees touching. She was massaging the woman’s shoulder comfortingly. “It’s going to be okay. You just need to tell me what’s happened, but slowly, from the start.”
    Kirk handed Gail a can of Diet Pepsi that he’d already cracked open. Gail looked at him and said, “What happened to your face?”
    “Shaving,” he said.
    She nodded, then answered Keisha’s question. “A few days ago, Ellie, that’s Wendell’s wife, she disappeared.”
    “I saw something on the news about that,” Keisha said.
    Gail nodded. “They held a press conference and everything yesterday. Wendell and Melissa. Oh, God.” She set the can of Pepsi on the table and put her hands over her eyes. “It’s all so unbelievable! Why would they hold the press conference if Melissa had something to do with it?”
    “Gail, so what are you saying? It was the
daughter
?” As soon as she said it, Keisha realized how it might sound; that she was surprised that
Wendell
wasn’t the one responsible. She had to recalibrate her thinking, to act surprised by everything she was about to hear, to listen and react without preconceptions.
    In fact, she wouldn’t have to try all that hard.
    “That’s what they’re saying,” Gail said, shaking her head. “That Melissa killed her mother.”
    Keisha tried to get her head around that. If Melissa had killed Ellie Garfield, why had the husband tried to strangle her? He must have been in on it, or at the very least, been helping his daughter cover up after the fact.
    “And what exactly happened to Wendell?” Keisha asked. “Where did they find him?”
    “At home,” Gail said. “I don’t really know all the details. But none of this makes any sense. That Melissa would kill her mother, that someone would kill Wendell. It’s insane.”
    Keisha put her arms around Gail. “You poor thing. This is so horrible for you.”
    As she held the woman, Keisha’s mind raced. Once Kirk finally disposed of the bloody clothes, the only thing that connected her to Garfield was the business card she was sure the police would find. She’d convinced herself she could explain that away by saying there were a hundred places Garfield could have picked one up.
    But now there was a definite link between Keisha and the dead man.
    The dead man’s sister. Who just happened to be one of Keisha’s clients.
    Not good, not good at—
    But wait a second.
    Maybe there was an opportunity here.
    “Tell me about your brother,” Keisha said. “Was he older, younger?”
    “He was my
baby
brother,” she said, and began to weep again.
    “I think—haven’t you mentioned him in some of our sessions?”
    She nodded, grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on the table, which was right next to the unfinished Twinkie and beer, and blew her nose. Then she had a sip of her soda, and said, “That’s right. I mentioned a few times to him that I came to see you, that you helped me to connect with my past lives.”
    “What did he think of that?”
    “Oh, he was very dismissive, but no more than my husband. Jerry thinks I’m a total crackpot.” She managed a short laugh. “Maybe I am.”
    “No, not at all,” Keisha said. “Everyone has different things they believe in. They’re coping strategies. They help us deal with the world out there. Was Wendell dealing with a lot of things? Difficult things?”
    “Oh, my, yes. Melissa’s been a constant source of stress for him and Ellie. She—oh, I can’t believe Ellie’s actually dead too. Melissa left home at sixteen, lived on her own, then met this man who got her pregnant. Ellie and Wendell were worried sick about her.”
    “Did you try to offer advice to them? Give them any suggestions? I mean, you’re Melissa’s aunt. I could imagine you wanted to help them where you could.”
    “Of course, of course, I tried.”
    “Is that why you took my card?” Keisha said. This was either going to work or it wasn’t. “To give it to your brother and his wife? In case they ever wanted to consult with me? Because, given what you’ve said about him, it seems