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"No, but it’s not talked about either, is it? I suppose they want it that way" She looked away, suddenly sad once again "So, what happens now? I know Scott had" Her lip trembled and she took another sip of water "Do you know? That is Do you kno he"

"There was an attack on the estate The attackers ell-aruards were killed before anyone understood as happening The h we are investigating" A sudden thought occurred to Cyn "We have reason to believe there anized crime I don’t kno much Scott told you about what he did"

"He hardly ever talked about it," Ee This house, our daughters slipped occasionally, you kno it is" She looked at Cynthia "You’re hton?"

"Uh, no But I understand," she lied "Did he have any friends he talked to? Maybe even someone he worked with?"

"Not really We lived so far away Most of the others lived closer to the estate, so it was difficult Lately, he’d been spending a lot of time with someoneI heard the a few times, but I never met him myself"

"You said your cousin introduced them?"

"My cousin’s husband," she corrected "Ronnie This Barry worked with hiood job, you know Until they started recruiting over in Mexico Now they bring in people who live ten to a roouys like Ronnie are out of luck Anyway, he got this job at some warehouse over in East LA, and it’s worked out really well for him When he found out where Scott worked, he introduced hi for a security job My husband never really talked toat Cyn and away as if trying to decide whether to go on

"Mrs Judkins? Was there so you wanted to tell me about Barry?"

She made a face "It just that Scott didn’t seeether anyway That’s odd, don’t you think?"

"Did you ever hear the--"

"Was Barry involved in this? Did he do soarded the other wofor inforht be her only chance "It’s possible," she admitted "We do have reason to think Barry was involved"

"But not Scott! You can’t believe that! Scott would never do soood ood hton"

"What sorts of things did they talk about? Your husband and Barry Did they talk here, or was it--"

"No! Scott never brought Barry here to the house They talked on the phone htened in disapproval "I didn’t like that, Scott going to the bars soto proain "Like I said, I didn’t hearthat kind of stuck in my mind A nae A night class, you know, for people ant to learn souess There were an awful lot of single people there Anyway, it was a poetry class, 19th century poetry, and that’s why the naly, wondering if the story was going anywhere

"Pushkin," E

"Pushkin? You mean the Russian poet?"

"Exactly That’s the nae I picked up Scott’s e from Barry Of course, as soon as I realized what I’d done, I hung up"

Sure you did, honey, Cynthia thought to herself

"But he said that naht was odd"

"Hht to soht be helpful, Mrs Judkins Thank you" Cynthia cleared her throat nervously and reached for her purse and the fresh envelope she’d prepared

"Ah, I know this is difficult, Mrs Judkins But, well, I have some paperwork here that you need to see"