"I know. You told me. I've been taking care of them."
"I know you have," she said, and that was the worst thing she could have said, for both of us, and she knew it, and she turned and walked out of my garage into the October sunlight.
Garnet Kinsella was standing at the end of my driveway. I don't know how long he'd been there. He was in his work apron, sawdust on his sleeves, and he didn't say anything. He just held out his arm, and Sheryl took it, and they stood there together while Quist went to get her car keys.
The hearing at the clubhouse that Wednesday was canceled by an email from Doug Mattingly at 9:02 the next morning. The email was three sentences long and contained the phrase "in light of new information," which I've come to believe is the most expensive phrase in the English language, because of how much it costs the people who have to write it.
Then, at noon, Doug posted on the Kestrel Run Neighbors page. He'd never posted there before that I could see. His profile picture was a golf cart.
On behalf of the Kestrel Run Board, it said, I want to correct the record. The resident of Kestrel Court who was the subject of recent posts in this group has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Pender Mill Police Department. He was never a suspect in any theft. The Board has withdrawn all pending violations against his property and reinstated the approval of his camera system. I personally apologize to him and to his daughter, and I'd ask everyone who shared or commented on the earlier posts to think about doing the same.
He turned commenting off, which I thought was wise. Verna told me later that she'd called him and told him so. "Turn it off, Douglas," she'd said. "Nobody needs to hear what Linda from Osprey Lane has to say about this."
Detective Quist called me two days after the garage.
"I wanted to let you know where things stand," she said. "As a courtesy. Marlowe's has given us a transaction record. Five items, purchased with a store card in Mrs. Kinsella's name, at 6:51 p.m. the evening before her report. That matches the tags. She's made a statement, through counsel. I'll leave the contents to the district attorney, but I'll tell you she didn't dispute the recording."
"What happens to her?"
"That's the DA's call. Filing a false report to law enforcement is a misdemeanor in this state. First offense, no record, my guess is they'll offer something deferred. Community service, conditions, it gets dismissed in a year if she behaves." A pause. "You'll get a victim notification letter. You'll have a chance to say what you think."
"Okay."