@@@@@It's in the glove compartmentI was going to
@@@@@It's in the glove
compartmentI was going to use
it to bait the hook for a follow-up interview, but
fuck it
I had some problems with the old car's glove
compartment button, but finally the little door
fell open like a corpse's mouthThere was a lot
more than a manila envelope in there - a geologist
could have taken core-samples probably going back
to 1965 - but the envelope was in front, and it
had my name printed on it
As she pulled up in front of the hospital, in a
spot marked 5 MINUTES PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF, Mary
said: "Prepare to be amazedAn old copyeditor
friend of mine chased that down for me -
she's older than Libby, but still sharp
I bent back the clasps and slid out two Xeroxed
sheets of an ancient newspaper story"That," Mary
said, "is from the Port Charlotte Weekly EchoIt's got to be the story my friend
Aggie saw, and the reason I could never find it is
because I never looked as far south as Port
741
CharlotteAlso, the Weekly Echo gave up the ghost
in 1931
The streetlight beneath which she'd parked wasn't
good enough for the fine print, but I could read
the headline and see the pictureI looked for a
long time
"It means something to you, doesn't it?" she askedI just don't know what
"If you figure it out, will you tell me?"
"All right," I said"You might even believe itthis is one story you'll never printAnd thanks for coming to my
showRemember to give Libby my
loveI had seen Elizabeth Eastlake for
the last time
ix
742
The ICU nurse on duty told me that Elizabeth was
in surgeryWhen I asked for what, she told me she
wasn't sureI looked around the waiting room
"If you're looking for MrWireman, I believe he
went to the cafeteria for coffee," the nurse sai