“Not that long.”

“I guess she can spend her money any way she wants, but what’s she hope to accomplish?”

“She wants to find her mother.”

“Yeah, I get that and then what?”

“That depends on where Violet is.”

“Hard to believe it’s still bugging her after all this time.”

“What about you? Does it bother you?”

“Not a bit. Violet did what suited her. Her life was her business. She seldom consulted me, and if I offered her advice, she’d turn around and do just the opposite. I learned to keep my mouth shut.”

“Did she ever talk about Foley beating her?”

“She didn’t have to talk about it. It was obvious. He broke her nose, broke her tooth, broke two ribs. I don’t know why she put up with it. If she’d wanted out, I’d have helped, but she went back time and time again, so I finally gave up.”

“Were you older or younger?”

“Older by two years.”

“Any other siblings?”

“Don’t I wish. Parents get old, it’d be nice to have someone to help shoulder the burden. Violet wasn’t about to do it, that’s for sure.”

“Are your parents still alive?”

“No. My father had a series of heart attacks in 1951. Three in rapid succession, the last one fatal. The doctors blamed it on a defect he’d carried since birth. He was forty-eight years old. So far I’ve managed to outlive him by thirteen years. Mother died a couple of years ago, at eighty-four.”

“You’re married or single?”

“Married. How about yourself?”

“Single, but my parents are both gone.”

“You’re fortunate. My mother was in a nursing home for years. Well, let’s call it a ‘facility.’ I wouldn’t label it a home. She used to phone me six and seven times a week, begging me to come get her. Up to me, I’d have done it, but my wife was adamant. She’s a stockbroker. No way would she have given that up in order to take care of Mother. I didn’t blame her, but it was tough.”

“You have children?”

“Four boys, all grown and gone. Two live here in town. I got one in Reno and another one in Phoenix.” He took a quick peek at his watch. “You want to ask about Violet, be quick about it. I got a meeting coming up.”

“Sorry. I get curious about people and I forget myself.”

“All right with me. It’s your call.”

“I take it you and Violet weren’t close?”

“You got that right. Last time I saw her, she came by the office and asked for money that I was dumb enough to give.”

“How much?”

“Two grand. That was the first of July, in case you’re wondering. After she left here, she went over to my mother’s house and hit her up as well. Mother didn’t have much, but Violet managed to wheedle five hundred dollars out of her. Month later, we found out she’d stolen Mother’s good jewelry: diamond bracelets, earrings, two pearl necklaces-the works. Three thousand dollars’ worth we never saw again.”

“How do you know it was her?”

“Mother remembered her asking to use the bathroom, which you could only get to by going through her bedroom. Jewelry box was on the dressing table. Mother didn’t have occasion to open it until her birthday that year when Rachel and I were taking her to dinner at the club. She wanted to get all gussied up and that’s when she realized everything was gone.”

“Did you report it to the police?”

“I wanted to, but she refused. She said if Violet needed it that bad, she could have it.”

“Had Violet stolen things before?”

“No, but she borrowed money every chance she got, usually small amounts. She’d claim it was for Daisy so we wouldn’t turn her down.”

“That seems curious. She bragged about having fifty thousand dollars of her own, which Foley says she got from an insurance settlement. He can’t confirm the amount, but he knows she collected.”

“She told me the same thing, but I thought it was b.s. If she had that much money, why bother to weasel the two grand from me?”

“Suppose she was putting a stash together so she could take off?”

“Always possible.”

“Could she have kept in touch with your mother? I keep thinking that even if she managed to make a new life for herself, she might still want some tie to the past.”

“Certainly not with me. Violet didn’t have any sentimental attachments that I know of. There’s no way Violet could have made contact with Mother without my knowing. For one thing, her number was unlisted, and any mail she got had to go through me first. For a while, the scam artists had her on their radar screens and they were sending her letters proposing ‘lucrative’ financial schemes or telling her she’d won the lottery and needed to send in the processing fee. She was so gullible she’d give away the furniture if anybody asked.”