“No, I mean I’ve been drinking water and coffee. But I haven’t been feeling all that well lately. And I do get anxious. Maybe fainting is my self-defense mechanism.”

“Do you feel all right now?”

“Yes, I feel fine now.”

Devine didn’t want to upset her unduly, which was why he had not told Alex what she had said while she had been on the floor. He didn’t think she was dehydrated or had fainted from anxiety. She seemed to be reliving what had happened to her when she had been attacked.

Something occurred to Devine as he connected one thing to another. “Alex, has this ever happened to you before? You... you sort of faint and then don’t remember anything?”

“What? No. I mean, not that I remember... But wait, okay, one time I was at Bertie’s studio. I was working on a sketch that I was later going to turn into a painting. She was helping me to get my three-point perspective and vanishing points just right. I was doing a building with people walking in front, but there was tricky trajectory to work out and my 3D boxing skills on the people weren’t all that stellar, especially getting the middle point right. I hadn’t really done something that complicated before.”

“I won’t even pretend to understand what you just said.”

She smiled. “There’s more math in art than most people think. But the world is three-dimensional and art has to be as well. There are skills of the trade to get that effect, and having a grasp of geometry and other disciplines helps. Anyway, I was sketching it and Bertie asked me something.”

“What did she ask you?”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t really remember. She said I had just collapsed.”

“Do you recall when that was?”

“It was a long time ago. My senior year of high school, I do remember that. The painting was going into a school competition.”

“Is that the only other time this happened to you besides with me just now?”

She frowned. “No, come to think, the same thing happened here. Bertie was with me again. She was over helping me on a sculpture I was doing. The piece was just physically hard to maneuver and she was very strong. Boom, I just collapsed, and the next thing I knew she was kneeling next to me shaking me.”

“Were you talking to her about anything before you fainted?”

She thought for a moment. “Bertie was asking me if I was ever going to leave Putnam. Look, it was probably all the paint fumes I was breathing.” When Devine looked worried she added, “Don’t worry. I’ve been to a doctor and gotten checked out. No brain issues or anything like that. And I had my air-filtration and ventilator systems here upgraded. You have to be careful with all the fumes and such. It can be toxic.”

“What doctor did you see?”

“Françoise Guillaume. She checked me out thoroughly. I’m fit as a fiddle.”

“Okay, so when did the last episode happen with Bertie?”

Alex let out a protracted sigh and her expression darkened. “It was the last time I saw her, actually. She was killed by the hit-and-run driver two days later.”

Chapter 51

Devine drove back to the inn. His phone buzzed as he opened the door to his cottage.

It was Campbell. He told Devine about his visit to Clare Robards the previous evening.

“So Jenny thought her parents hadn’t done enough to find whoever had attacked Alex?”

“Yes. And she wanted to make that point clear to her mother, and also let her know that she was going to solve the crime. By the way, Clare blames herself for Jenny’s death. She said if she and Curt had pushed harder Jenny wouldn’t have had to do what she did, and sacrifice her life in the process.”

Devine said, “That’s a lot of guilt to carry around. In addition to people feeling Clare abandoned her former husband during his hour of need.”

“She told me some things I didn’t know about that,” said Campbell quietly, a distinct level of chagrin in his voice.

“So are you second-guessing your opinion of Clare Robards, sir?”

“She devoted most of her life to him, Devine. Carried and raised three children. Fought every political battle with him side by side.” The former general paused. “I guess I don’t have the right to judge her, because I’ve never been in her circumstances. The bottom line is she’s a good person who did right by Curt for a long time. And he was not easy to get along with. Now, that is something I can opine on, having known him all those decades. He was as loyal a friend as you would ever want, but if you got on his bad side it was a battle to the death. And as a politician he was ruthlessly ambitious. Sometimes to an extent that it clouded his judgment. And the higher up he went in the political food chain, the more he was apparently willing to do in order to stay there. He and I had sharp words on the subject, but still maintained our friendship.”

“Sounds like the marine who never could take losing on the battlefield carried that same standard to running for office,” opined Devine.

“Yes. But if one compromises one’s principles in the bargain? You have victory without honor, at least in my opinion.”

“Yes sir.”