“I’m on my way....”
Scott rang off before she could ask even a single question. He must know something.
He did. She could tell by the energy emanating from him as he met her out in the yard at Twin Oaks.
“Cecilia Hamilton was married to William Byrd’s father for more than thirty-five years,” he said without preamble. “He died three years ago.”
Laurel wished she’d been sitting down. “What? How do you know? That doesn’t even make sense.” Her mind raced across the facts they’d accumulated. “Seth said Cecilia was in her late fifties.”
“She’s fifty-seven.”
“William’s three years older than that.”
“I know.”
“But...”
“She’s from Boston and owns Hamilton Lending of New England, which has its corporate offices there. Guess who their biggest client is?”
“William?”
“No,” Scott shook his head. “Renwick Construction.”
She stared at him. “As in Leslie Renwick?” she asked slowly.
“Or her parents.”
“Or maybe no relation at all?”
“Maybe. But that doesn’t seem likely.”
It took Laurel a couple of seconds to digest the impact of his news. “William’s last name isn’t Hamilton,” was the only coherent thought she could come up with. “It’s Byrd.”
“A pen name.”
Laurel looked up at him, impressed. “You have been busy.”
“I just had a few more favors to call in. William’s publisher called back, too. They haven’t heard from him, but didn’t expect to until next month.”
Together they started to walk toward Twin Oaks. “So do we pay Hamilton Lending a visit?” Laurel asked, still trying to assimilate this new information.
“Not yet,” Scott said, shaking his head. “Assuming Cecilia isn’t missing, we have no business asking around without a warrant or alarming her employees. She could probably sue us for that.”
“She was married to a man old enough to be her father,” Laurel said. Her entire picture of the woman had changed in an instant.
“And then some. He was almost ninety when he died.”
“It had to be for his money.”
“That would be my guess.”
Their hands brushed as they climbed the steps to the B and B. Embarrassed, Laurel jerked back.
“So where does William come to play in all this?”
“He’s been in Connecticut for almost thirty years,” Scott said. “My source told me he had nothing to do with his father after he left home.”
They stopped on the porch outside the front door.