“Who?” Carol said, and Nina felt like she was drifting off into some kind of space, only it wasn't calm and peaceful there. Supernovas were going off all around her. Through the distant chaos she heard her voice saying quite normally and correctly, “Emily Chuvarsky's little girl?”

Carol's laughter brought her back to earth.

“Em a mom?” Carol said. “You have to be kidding. She hates kids. It was Neal she loved after her husband died. Neal knew it, and he played her for a lot of money before she realized he'd never leave Juliette. She used to go listen to him when he was playing piano, before he got fired. Music is the way to so many women, have you noticed? Neal sure used it that way, when it suited him.”

“If it was Emily, then she was working with you or your husband,” Nina said. “Triple eights.”

“So she was the one who made up the story about our license plate? You really scared Lenny with that one. I thought it must be her. I remember one time she said we were lucky with the eights.”

“You're saying-do you realize…”

“All I'm saying is, I didn't do a thing to anybody.”

“Did you tell her about Neal's plan?”

“Just to show her she was better off forgetting about him. I didn't know she was the patsy.”

“Emily?”

Nina's client looked flushed and pretty, as if she had walked all the way to the office. “Yes?”

“I talked to Carol Dole about you.”

“Oh,” she said, all her prettiness falling behind a frown.

“You lied to me about Caitlin.”

“I always loved that name,” she said after a pause. “She's cute, too, isn't she? I found the photo stuck inside a book I bought at the Salvation Army.”

“You lied about knowing Neal, too.”

She tapped her foot, examined her fingernails, and didn't say anything for a long time.

“Maybe you need to find another lawyer, one you feel comfortable telling the truth to.”

“I just-everything I say to you is confidential, right?”

“That's right.”

“I guess you already figured out most of the story. Might as well know the rest. I did know Neal. He was a liar and a cheat. He gambled away a lot of my money. He hurt me… drew me in and made a fool of me.”

“You hated him.”

“No.” She breathed in short breaths, impatient to be understood. “I never hated him.”

“Carol told you that Neal had come up with a plan.”

Emily studied Nina awhile, then seemed to come to a decision. “When I heard about his idea for a crash scam, it set off something in me, something I didn't even know was there. I started thinking, wouldn't it be perfect if he should get his while trying to screw yet another unsuspecting victim? Almost a biblical justice.”

“You put the gas in his trunk.”

She shifted her body in her chair, looking uncomfortable. “I was over at Carol's when Lenny drove up in Neal's car. He had just had it in for servicing and was about to take it back to Neal, but we were all hungry, so he left the keys on the counter in the kitchen while they went out in Lenny's car to get us some food.

“It was fate, you see? I saw those keys lying there… I thought about Neal, how horrible he was to me. I felt such pain… and I picked them up. I didn't even think. I just took Neal's car and ran over to Chevron for the gas. Disguised myself a little. Then I hid the can under a blanket in the trunk before Carol and Lenny got back. It was cold and I wore gloves. If I thought at all, I guess I thought the car would be destroyed in a crash.”

“You wanted to kill him.” Nina was thinking about the fingerprint leading nowhere. A helper at the gas station? A previous customer?

“I loved him,” she said simply, as if even a child could see that explained everything. “But he hurt me so much. So I… engineered a little divine intervention. God rode beside him that day. If he had done nothing wrong, he would have lived, you see?”

“But you hit him, not someone else.”

“My rotten luck,” Emily said with a bitter laugh. “After that last DUI, I needed new insurance. Carol talked me into buying from Lenny, and he sold me a big fat new policy! So here I am driving home one night and suddenly Neal's in front of me. It happened so fast! I didn't realize it was him right away, but something struck me funny, so I followed close behind to try to see him better. Next thing I know, I'm stepping on the brakes, but the road's so slippery, I slide right into him! God-what a riot-isn't it funny? I can't stop laughing-the bad luck part-but you know, it's a small town-the bad luck part is, Lenny, who had me fresh in his mind and never liked me, must have picked me to be the mark! And I didn't know when they were planning the crash!”

“The triple eights…”

“Oh, Lenny was there that night, whatever he and Carol say, whether I saw him or not. He's the one who cut in front of Neal, wearing a mustache that hung crooked, just like everybody in that whole damn family, including my so-called friend, who never could keep a secret, even when we were thirteen. Oh, God. They'll never be able to keep quiet about this.”

“You realize you're in serious trouble now, Emily. The system doesn't forgive murder.”

“Yes, thanks for nothing! You could have just helped me, forced Juliette to settle within the policy limits instead of dragging up all this old business!”

She didn't really appreciate the extent of the calamity she had set off yet. Her first mistake had been a headlong, thoughtless rush into the fray, but her biggest mistake had been involving Nina.

Clasping her bag, Emily stood up. “I suppose I will get that new lawyer.”

“Good idea.” Nina also stood. “I'll sign the Substitution of Attorney as soon as it comes in.”

“Carol and Lenny have figured everything out by now, thanks to you. They'll hurry to protect themselves. No doubt the cops will follow close behind.”

They would, and they would get her, too. She should have forced her insurance company to settle with Juliette. She should never have put herself in front of the legal machine because now Nina had turned on the ignition and the wheels had started up. They would roll inexorably from here on out until they crushed her beneath them.

“Here's a check,” Nina said, scribbling one out and handing it to her. “Your retainer, less my expenses.”

Emily took the check, studied it, and frowned.

She went out the door. “Shyster,” she said, pulling it shut behind her.

When Nina got home, Hitchcock made a rush for her and began licking her stockings. “Get off me, you damn hound,” she said, making for the upstairs bedroom.

She lay down, imagining what the courts had in store for the impetuous Emily. She wondered if she'd ever feel the desire to get up again. She wondered if there was still a Peace Corps and if they had any openings in Gabon. Maybe the villagers there would thank her for doing a good job. Maybe there, passionate women did not plot against ex-lovers.

“Mom,” Bob said through the door, “I made a tuna casserole.”

“You're kidding!”

“In the microwave. It's steamin', Mom. Plus I poured you a glass of wine out of the bottle in the fridge. It's on the kitchen table. And the news is on.”

Nina opened one eye. White fell through the twilight outside the window.

“Mom?” At the same moment, Hitchcock barked. He wanted to come in, and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

“I'm coming,” Nina said. She got up and opened the door.