The Cove

remember where he lived, if I ever did know. But everyone knew about him and how he was older than God and how if we could just hang on a bit longer then he'd croak and Doc would get the money.

    "Of course, I have money, but not as much as that rich uncle had. We were all afraid that the old codger would use it all up on nursing homes, but he just died in his sleep, Doc said, and then Doc got that big fat check. More zeros than anybody in this town had ever seen before, I'll tell you."

    "Thelma," David said, "do you know of anyone in town who could have met this uncle?"

    "Don't know, but I'll find out. Martha!"

    The screech hurt Sally's ears. She winced even as she smiled because Corey had jumped and dropped her pen and notebook.

    "Healthy set of lungs," Quinlan said.

    Martha appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron.

    "What are you making for dinner, Martha? It's getting on toward four o'clock."

    "Your favorite eggplant parmigiana, Thelma, with lots of Parmesan cheese on top and garlic bread so snappy it will make your teeth dance, and a big Greek salad with goat cheese."

    "The uncle, Thelma," Quinlan said easily.

    "Oh, yes. Martha, did you ever meet Doc Spiver's rich uncle?''

    Martha frowned deeply, then slowly shook her head. "No, just heard about him for years. Whenever things were looking real bad, we'd talk about him, discuss how old he was, what kind of ailments he had, try to figure out when he'd pass on. Don't you remember, Thelma? Hal Vorhees was always telling us we were ghouls, that it surely had to be a sin to discuss that poor old man, like we were holding prayer meetings for him to die."

    "We were," Thelma said. "I'll bet Hal did a little praying when none of us were around. Well, I wasn't praying for myself because I wasn't poor like the rest of the town, but when Doc got that check, I was shouting along with everyone else."

    "You've lived here since the forties, haven't you, Thelma?" David asked.

    "Yes. I came here with my husband, Bobby Nettro, back in 1945. We already had grown kids, and we were rattling around in that big old house in Detroit. Came out here and decided this was the place for us." She gave a lusty sigh that sent a whistling sound through her false teeth. "Poor Bobby, he passed on in 1956, right after Eisenhower was re-elected. He died of pneumonia, you know.

    "But he left me well off, real well off. I got Martha to come live with me in the late sixties, and we did just fine. She was teaching school down in Portland, and she didn't like it, all those hippies and drugs and that free love. Since I knew her mama before she passed on, I also knew Martha. We all kept in touch. But you know, Quinlan, I did fail her mama. I still can't find Martha a husband, and I promised her I would. Lord knows, I've been looking for more years now than I've got teeth."

    "You don't have any teeth, Thelma," Martha said. "Why don't you just chew on that nice pumpkin peach lipstick and think about that eggplant Parmesan?''

    "Well, I used to have a healthy set of choppers. I'll tell you, Quinlan, it don't seem to matter how horny she gets and how much she sticks her bosom out there for the old codgers to ogle. Now, take poor Ed-"

    Martha rolled her eyes and left the room.

    "Well, actually, could you tell us about your kids, Thelma?" Quinlan asked.

    "Two boys, one died in the war-the Big War, not Korea or Vietnam. The other one, well, he lives back in Massachusetts. He's retired now, has grown-up grandkids, and they got kids, and that makes me so old I can't bear to think about it."

    Sally smiled as she stood up and walked over to kiss Thelma's soft, wrinkled cheek. "I'm going to see Amabel now, Thelma, but James and I will be staying here in the tower room."

    “You still taking advantage of him, huh, Sally? Poor little boy, he doesn't have a chance. The first time I saw the two of you together I knew you'd have his pants off him in no time at all."

    "Thelma, have a piece of my New Jersey cheesecake."

    Thelma turned to frown at Martha, who had just come back into the room with another tray of her cheesecakes.

    "You're such a prude, Martha, such a prude. I'll just bet you're frigid and Ed has to beg you for every little favor."

    "I'll see you later," Sally said, grinning back at the two dumbstruck special agents from Portland, James, and David Mountebank.

    "I'll be along shortly, Sally," Quinlan said. He was already asking Thelma more questions when Sally went out the