Page 24 of Always Murder

“Getting them through high school?”I said.

“Millie’s probably the only reason the two of them graduated,” Fox said.“Paul and Ryan, I mean.”

“Why?”I said.“I mean, I know why they needed help.They’re practically the definition of numbskulls.”

“They’re the definition of toddlers.”

“But what about Christine?”

Fox glanced at Indira, who was still peering out over her coffee, lost in thought.“Well,” Fox said slowly, “Christine is, uh, hands-on, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“I’m playing the role of a manger,” I said.“Trust me: I noticed.”

“Right, well, Christine is hands-on about her…projects.”

“The girls,” Indira said absently.

“And the girls,” Fox said.“How to put it to a young person—”

“I’m notthatyoung,” I said.

“I know,” Fox said and mimed touching their jaw.“Your jowls.”

I squawked.(Silently.)

“Christine only sees—and hears, and talks about—” Indira said.

“And cares about,” Fox put in.

“—the things she cares about.”

“And she always gets her way.”

I thought about what I’d seen at Millie’s family dinner.And then again at the tree farm.“She does seem to be a bit of a…steamroller.”

“A bit?”Fox asked.“She was the student council president in high school—”

“Hold on, you knewMillie’s mom in high school?”

“—and I remember once, the principal at the time, Mr.Westergaard, was trying to suggest a theme for the winter dance, and Christine waited for him to finish, turned to the rest of the group, and told us what we were going to do.And it wasnotMr.Westergaard’s vision of ‘An Evening in Paris.’”

“The point is,” Indira said, “Christine’s not going to be worried about Paul and Ryan until they get in the way, so to speak.Whatever her current project is, that’s what she’s focused on.”

My initial impulse was to say that she was a terrible mother.And maybe she was—I didn’t love how she’d treated Millie the few times I’d been around her.But in terms of what I’d seen so far, it didn’t seem quite so cut-and-dried.Sure, Paul hadn’t shown up to pick out the Christmas tree.But maybe Christine thought he was working.Or maybe she was used to her boys failing to show up at family events.The only reason I was worried was because I knew about the package thefts and because—let’s be real—I’d made a massive leap in logic.

“I’d say,” I said slowly, “Christine’s current focus is trying to get Kassandra and Angeline hitched.”

“I hear Angeline’s dating a lawyer,” Fox said with a grin.“The girls take after their mother, you know.”

“Oh my God, not you too.”

“Is the other one really a rock star?”Indira asked.At my surprised look, she said, “Everyone was talking about it at Krabby Kuts.”

“Well, he’d probably be offended if you said ‘rock’ instead of whatever weird music he plays.I get the impression that he’s a star the same way every teenager with a phone is an influencer.”

“Mee-aow,” Fox said.

“I guess it’s good for Christine to be so focused on those two,” I said.“I hate to think what she’d do if she didn’t have something to keep her occupied.”

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