Chapter 21

Ma sipped her coffee, then said, “What’s that supposed to mean? It’s the middle of summer.”

I frowned. “It means, that trail of ours seems to just keep getting colder and colder.”

Surprisingly, she shook her head. “Not exactly.”

“No?” I hazarded.

“No,” she said. “Because if Bing’s birth certificate had Rosemary’s maiden name on it, it also had his address.”

“Uh huh,” I said, hands now on my hips. “So you’re saying I need to go ask my nurse friend, Dave, to break the law yet again.”

“Nice boy.”

“You keep saying that about my friends,” I said, “but Dave was a bully in high school and Monroe is…well, Monroe.”

She shrugged. “People change.”

“Do they, Ma?” I asked. “Do they really? Have you?”

Her shrug was now up to her chin. “Other people change.”