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heard my brother-in-law, Bill Sykes, died the same night, killed by some thug.”
    “The same night?”
    Tears shiny as tree sap dribbled down Daria’s cheeks. She nodded. “Saturday night. If you read the papers you know there’s a bunch of people getting robbed who have houses on the lake. Bill and Beth had valuable things in that house. He was a surgeon. Wealthy. Obviously, they became targets. He was attacked with a sword he had hanging on the wall of his study for a decoration . . . Thank God Beth was out of town.” Wiping her cheeks with a hand, she blushed all the way to her black roots. “That sounds bad, like I never cared about Bill.”
    “You’re focusing on your sister. That’s natural.”
    “The timing’s got me completely freaked.” She tossed her spent cigarette into the fire, immediately lighting another with trembling fingers. “Bill dying the same night as Chris. What’s that all about?”
    “What kinds of things did they keep at the house?”
    “Oh, gee. I don’t know.” She crinkled her forehead and thought hard. “Plates, doodads. Some strange oil paintings of Bill’s. The place was loaded full of stuff. My sister used to like antiques. Something in that house must have been very valuable. I keep thinking how glad I am Beth wasn’t there that night, too, or . . .” The thought was so distressing she stood up and began moving around the room, still smoking, letting the ashes fall where they would. “And now the cops have gone crazy. Should we go down to Placerville tonight? Can we see Nikki? She called just before you got here, but she only had five minutes. She was calm, or I think I’d be—what should I do?”
    “Has Nikki ever been in trouble before?” Nina said.
    Daria pushed aside a blanket and looked outside. “No big deal,” she said. “Kid stuff.”
    “She was arrested before, Mom,” Bob said, “for vandalism.”
    “That was dismissed, and rightly so!” said Daria. “What kind of world doesn’t make room for kids to mess with spray paint! In museums they call it
art
!”
    “And picked up once for shoplifting . . .”
    “That was an accident! She forgot to pay!” Daria turned a beseeching look on Nina. “Haven’t you ever forgotten to pay? When a teenager does it, they are so dead. The way we treat our kids is a shame.”
    “Is that all?” Nina asked, as if the list wasn’t long enough.
    “Oh, there’s the one time they got her fair and square for trespassing. They let her off with a warning.”
    “She was with a bunch of other kids and they lit a bonfire at Pope Beach. At midnight. It’s illegal, it turns out,” Bob said, as if they hadn’t discussed it many times. There were signs all over the place. “Plus the beach was closed.”
    “Of course, she had no idea,” said Daria. “At sixteen, who knows these details.” She settled back down on the floor and looked intently at Nina. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I’m one of those mothers who make endless excuses for their kids. But you’re wrong if you think that. Nikki’s an unusual person. Sensitive. Intelligent, like her dad. Musical like him, too, but she got some of her talent from me. She could really make it but she should go to college first.” She took a drag. “Use her brains, unlike me.
    “Anyway. Deep down, she’s very sensible. I rely on her for everything! I was just a kid myself when she was born, seventeen. Married at sixteen. I was way wilder than she is at that age. I mean, she totally organizes things around here, pays bills. Makes grocery lists. Remembers to buy the TP! She ran around with the wrong crowd for a while there. Then she met Bobby.” She reached over and held his hand. To Nina’s amazement, he let her.
    “He’s been like a brother to her, only better because they don’t fight like cats and dogs! He’s such a good influence.” She let go. “She was straightening out . . .”
    Nina was realizing something about Daria. She had known