Jessica gave her a sidelong look as she threw away a couple of paper plates. “I’m sure you need one, Beatrice. I heard that you and Meadow were on the scene right after Gail died. That must have been awful.”
“Far worse for poor Ralph,” said Beatrice somberly. “I feel terrible for him.”
Jessica nodded and said slowly, “I didn’t know anything about it for a little while. In fact, I happened on all of the emergency vehicles because I’d gone over to Gail’s mom’s house that day to bring her some of my tomatoes. The police stopped me right away, of course, and asked me a bunch of questions.” She shrugged. “I told them what I knew, which was nothing.”
“That must have been quite a shock to you, coming up on the scene that way.”
Jessica said, “Yes. Of course, I knew Gail was living with her mom
