“Do you believe the stuff about him and Delilah?” Jake asked, scraping the last of the eggs off the plate.

“No.” I poured orange juice into my half-empty cup. “I really don't. I just don't get that feel from her. I didn't even get that feeling from his mother at the restaurant, you know?”

He nodded. “Agreed. I think they might've been close, but people are always quick to whisper.”

“I'd really like to know what he and Hackerman were arguing about, though,” I said. “Now that guy totally seems capable of killing someone.”

Jake shrugged. “I don't know. The guy's a weasel, but what does a killer really look like or act like? There isn't exactly a type and he sort of strikes me as a coward. Lots of bluster, but doesn't do a whole lot to back that up in any way.” Then he shrugged again. “But who knows? All of these people seem to have brought a little of the crazy with them.”

I agreed with him that you couldn't know what a killer looked like. Rex, our home inspector, didn't want to recommend an exterminator for the mice that were living in our house before we moved in, because he was adverse to killing things. Yet he'd been the one to dump Olaf Stunderson's body in the coal chute. So maybe we couldn't tell a killer just by looking at someone. But Hackerman just gave me the creeps and I could see him getting in an argument with Harvey and doing something stupid. Hackerman seemed more than capable of doing a lot of stupid things.

We finished breakfast and cleaned up the table and did the dishes together. Jake was feeling sluggish and wanted to go for a run. Since I only ran when chased, I declined to accompany him. After he left, I walked down to the clubhouse and saw Delilah scurrying around the picnic tables on the pavilion, trying to move them all by herself.

“Do you need some help?” I asked.

She brushed the wisps of hair from her face and planted her hands on her hips. “I'd like to say no, but yes. I do.” She rubbed the small of her back. “I'm not in any shape to be moving these around by myself anymore.”

I walked over to the opposite end of the table she was standing at. “What do you have going on today?”

“Camper potluck,” she said, lifting her end of the table. “Everyone brings something and we provide burgers and hot dogs.”

“But the barbeque was just the other night...”

“I know.” She offered a tired smile. “We had a schedule goof-up and didn't realize we'd put both events in the same week. It was too late to change dates so we just had to go with it. Besides, people like the get-togethers.”

I picked up my end and we scooted it over to the empty space she'd been angling for. “I'm sure they do.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, they really do. And it's usually fun and low-key.”

There was something in her voice that made me think she was looking at it as something other than that, though. “Usually?”

She guided me toward another table, which we picked up and slid over near the other one.

She took another deep breath. “Just with everything that's been going on, I'm not sure who's coming or bringing anything or really anything at all.” She surveyed the picnic tables. “I'm not sure this is all worth the effort at this point.”

We moved a couple more tables into place and I offered to give her a hand with the plastic table cloths. We covered each table with a red-checked cloth, securing each in place with metal clips. By the time we were done, the entire pavilion had been transformed from a drab-looking eating area to something fun and festive.

Delilah eased her frame on to a bench. Her pink t-shirt was damp with sweat. “Thank you for helping.”

I sat down next to her. “Of course. It's a lot of work for one person.”

She nodded. “It is. Harvey was really good at helping me get things ready. He was far more organized than I am.” Her voice trailed off and she looked away.

“What did you end up doing with those girls last night?”

She rolled her eyes. “I wish I had the heart to call the authorities and have them locked up. But I don't, of course.” She shrugged. “I made them promise to stay away from Harvey's and they brought me a check for the cost of the window this morning.”

“So you don't think they had anything to do with Harvey's death?”

She stared at a crack on the concrete floor. “I don't want to think they did.”

“But you do?”

“Honestly?” She looked back at me and I saw the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “I have no clue. They were always harmless when it came to him. Like puppies following around their owner. But after he broke up with them? They went a little crazy.” She offered a half-laugh. “No. Not a little. A lot.”

“The hammer and the fire?”

Delilah nodded. “They blew it off. Said they were accidents and what-not. And Harvey didn't give either incident another thought. But they just seemed to turn a corner after that. Like, if they couldn't have him, no one else could, either.”

I tended to agree with her and a tingle shivered up my spine as I thought about our encounter with them the night before at Harvey's camper. What if they'd freaked out when Jake confronted them? They'd had a potential weapon and it wasn't like they'd had a problem attacking someone before.

“Did he really like them?” I asked. “I mean...for more than just...?” I couldn't force myself to finish the sentence.

She smiled. “Harvey was a good person, but let's be honest. I mean, he was still a man and both of those girls are very attractive. Pickings are slim up here for relationships, and they basically threw themselves at him.” The smile faded. “But even with what they had to offer, they wore thin on him quickly. I think he ended up tolerating them more than liking him and that was because he knew it was his fault for becoming involved with them in the first place. But he certainly didn't dislike them.”

I believed her. As creepy, even sinister, as the sisters seemed, I could see how they'd be attractive to a guy in his twenties, particularly if they were the aggressors. I didn't fault Harvey for that, particularly if he wasn't running into other people his age at Windy Vista.

“You haven't asked me yet,” Delilah said.

“Haven't asked you what?”

“The one thing you probably really want to ask me,” she said. She tugged at the collar of her shirt. “The one thing people have probably been sure to tell you. About me and Harvey.”

“People talk and they like to create drama. It's none of my business.”

She smiled like she was grateful. “That's kind of you to say, but you wouldn't be normal if you weren't wondering, Daisy.”

I felt embarrassed by the fact that I was actually wondering.

“Harvey and I were not in a relationship,” she said, leveling her eyes with mine. “But everything you've probably heard is the result of one dumb thing I did a few years back.”

I wasn't sure what to say to that even though I was dying to know what the mistake was. I pressed my lips together and kept my mouth shut.

She sighed and clasped her hands together in her lap. “A couple of summers ago, I'd had a lousy day. Campers were complaining, we'd lost power for part of the morning, and the well went down for a bit. Just one of those days where everything went wrong. So after I got everything up and running and made sure everyone was semi-happy again, I cleared out of here and went into town to relax and have a couple of drinks.” She paused. “But a couple of drinks turned into a lot of drinks.”

I could think of a few nights where I'd thrown the kids at Jake, started a campfire out back, beer in  hand, ready to unwind. There was no shame in that and Jake would usually end up joining me after the kids were in bed. There might've been a night or two when I'd knocked back more than I'd intended but I didn't think there was an adult on the planet who couldn't relate.