Free Critical Impact by Linda Hall

too tired.”
    â€œI’m not.” She wasn’t, not if it meant spending more time with Stu.
    Marg and Lois were still watching the news and Catherine decided to read a book in her room.
    The outdoor two-person swing was something that her father made before he died. It had been sanded, repainted and repaired many times and was still in perfect working order.
    â€œYou grew up in this house?” Stu asked.
    â€œI was born in Bangor. We bought this place when I was little. When I was ten, my father passed away. Eventually, we sold the house in the city and my mother and I moved here.”
    â€œThose look nice.” He was pointing at a large setof bamboo wind chimes hanging from the roof of the porch.
    â€œI don’t know where my mother got those. They’ve been here forever.”
    He got up and gently rattled them with his hand. The sound the chimes made was deep and hollow and woody.
    She took a sip of the lemonade. It was tart, just the way she liked it.
    â€œHow long has your aunt lived here?” Stu asked.
    â€œAround two years.”
    She looked at her sandaled feet. He sat down beside her again and gently moved the swing back and forth. A long time ago she would sit on the swing, her father beside her, holding her hand. It was so long ago she was even forgetting what he looked like. But she would always remember his hand holding hers, always gentle, always warm. She told Stu about him.
    He said he would have liked to meet him.
    As they sat there chatting about inconsequential things, she was conscious of his presence next to her, the two of them brought together by tragedy.
    â€œAre you any closer to finding out who was responsible for the bombing?” she asked.
    â€œWe’re working on a few leads.”
    She looked at him and smiled. “Which means there are lots of things you can’t tell me.”
    â€œI’m telling you everything I can. Believe me, Anna. I’m not hiding anything.”
    Anna said, “I know you’re good friends with Marg and Johnny. How is Marg taking all this? She seems so confused. I really feel sorry for her. I was thinking of trying to get to know her.”
    â€œThat would be good for her. She’s taking this whole thing pretty hard. She’s accusing me of keeping things from her. I’m not.” He took another sip of his lemonade, and they talked some more.
    Anna adjusted the blanket under her arm and noticed a movement in the parlor window behind where they were sitting on the swing. Maybe her mother was rearranging the room or unpacking. She should go in and tell her mother not to bother. She excused herself, saying she would be right back.
    It wasn’t her mother who was in the parlor room.
    Marg’s back was to the door and she was sitting beside the window, obviously listening to everything that she and Stu were talking about. Eavesdropping? Why?
    â€œMarg?” Anna stood in the doorway.
    The woman turned suddenly, saw it was Anna, opened her eyes and mouth wide, put her hand to her chest and said, “I just came here to sit beside the window and get a breath of air. I’m so used to just coming in here and sitting in this window seat. Oh, dear, I need to remember that you are living here now.”
    Anna wasn’t buying it. The woman was clearly listening in on their conversation. Anna’s emotionsveered between angry frustration and sympathy. Marg shouldn’t be in someone else’s room, but she had a close friend who was calling the injuries her husband had sustained God’s judgment. No wonder Marg was a little off center these days. She just wanted to hear what Stu told her about the case.
    Maybe Anna just needed to give her the benefit of the doubt.
    Â 
    There were no new messages for Stu when he finally got home. Peter Remington hadn’t called and the address for Jack Habrowser had been incorrect. All week they’ve been trying to find both of these men with no