Iris Thompson innocently bit her lip, then weakly continued, "Isn't this woman and child Reginald Bates's lover and illegitimate child?"
A single phrase left Mrs. Bates taken aback, "What?"
Reginald Bates was also stunned.
Iris Thompson furrowed her eyebrows, "Aren't they?"
Mrs. Bates immediately turned to Linda Grismer. Before she could speak, the previously tearful Linda, who seemed choked up, suddenly spoke clearly, "I never said that!"
Mrs. Bates then looked toward Iris Thompson.
Iris Thompson still had red eyes. She lowered her head, patted her chest, and then said, "As soon as you came in, without a word, you embraced me, pleading for me to give you a way out, to make Reginald Bates take responsibility for a widow and orphan, as if Reginald Bates had wronged you and the child… I actually thought, you were Reginald Bates's girlfriend or something..."