Demarest said, “That sounds about right.”
Bowman said, “I had a feeling he’d be a problem but not anything like this.”
“How so?” said Milo.
“Some people, you just can tell. The way he carried himself. The looks he and Meagin gave. He impressed me as lots of flash but no substance. My husband’s handsome but he’s made of something. He’s a neurosurgeon. Dr. Emil Bowman, he helps people in pain.”
Demarest said, “My husband’s a physician and a biochemist. That’s how Toni and I got to know each other. At a medical retreat.”
Bowman said, “We kidded her about him. Who’re you trying to fool. She giggled and said it was just a fling. We didn’t judge. That’s not our responsibility.”
Milo said, “What else did she say about him?”
“Nothing. It was just that one time.”
I said, “You two knew each other before you met Meagin at the spa.”
“Well before,” said Bowman. “We both lead busy lives so we’d begun going to the spa to unwind.”
“Meagin’s lifestyle was different.”
“Meagin,” she said, sighing. Pale eyes fluttered as moisture collected in their corners. She reached into her purse, drew out a cloth hankie, and dabbed. You don’t see many of those anymore. Milo always keeps a couple in his pocket. Linen, monogrammed set, a gift from the man he’d lived with for years.
Like yawns, sighs can be contagious. Lana Demarest caught the bug and let out a soft breath. “Yes, Meagin lived differently than us.”
Toni Bowman said, “She was so bright, what a waste. That’s what happens when you marry that kind of money.”
I said, “Doug.”
“Doug,” she echoed. “According to Meagin, he made sixty million dollars last year. Even if that was an exaggeration, the total had to be astronomic. And that crazy house. As if they were English aristocracy.”
Lana Demarest shook her head. “Hard to conceive living there.”
Milo said, “You’ve been there.”
“No, but Meagin showed us pictures. Thought it was funny.”
“Living there.”
“Living with all that gingerbread and unused space. She said Doug would eventually sell it for a huge profit.”
Toni Bowman said, “Mind you, I have nothing against making money. That’s what I do, it enables Emil to keep helping people in pain and without worrying about finances. I just think marrying into money at that level can get in the way.”
Milo said, “Of...”
“Self-development, exercising your brain. Fulfilling your potential. Meagin was bright. Okay, she wasn’t educated, big deal, you can get past that. Sure it’s harder but you can do it. Meagin had plenty of potential but no avenue to develop it.”
Demarest said, “We didn’t judge but we did try to give her a little warning. Like are you sure?”
Bowman said, “Emphasis on ‘try.’ She giggled some more and changed the subject so obviously we dropped it. You can’t just come out and preach to a friend because you run the risk of blowing up the relationship.”
I said, “You valued your friendship with Meagin.”
“She was great,” said Demarest. “Kind, sweet, gentle. And yes, bright. She didn’t deserve this, not one bit.”
Bowman said, “Not one fucking bit.”
The women looked at each other. Both began crying softly, Bowman wielding her handkerchief, Demarest reaching into a multicolored box on her desk and pulling out a parrot-green tissue.
Bowman stopped first. Back to anger. “Maybe we should’ve preached. Who the hell knows?”
Demarest said, “We discussed it between us, Toni.”
“I know.”
Milo said, “Discussed what?”
Demarest said, “A much younger guy, how that could be a problem because maturity takes longer to develop in men.”
“And sometimes never does,” said Bowman. “Get someone with the wrong type of mother and you end up with an eternal baby. My husband has always been mature. Even if he wasn’t twenty years older than me — even if he was younger than me — he’d be a grown-up.”
Demarest said, “My husband is five years older than me and we’re finally synchronized.”
Bowman said, “Men are like vegetables, they need seasoning. I said that to Meagin. She said, ‘Thanks but I’ve had enough of older men.’ Then she pointed out Doug was younger, too. So obviously, that had become her thing.”
I said, “Had she talked about issues with older men before?”
Twin head shakes.
“Had she been married before?”
“No idea,” said Bowman. “She never really told us much about herself.”
The Midwest.
Demarest smiled. “Not for lack of gentle prying on our part.”
Bowman said, “Look where that got her.”
I said, “What was Meagin’s attitude about Doug making so much money?”
“Same as with the house,” said Bowman. “Amused. Like it was absurd.”
Demarest said, “Like what can you actually do with all that?”
Milo said, “She knew he was rich when she married him.”
“But not when she met him,” said Bowman. “She told us she thought he was some kind of gofer. Money wasn’t her focus.”
“What was?”
She turned and looked me over. “This is sounding more like therapy than an investigation.”
I said, “They’re not unrelated.”
“Is that so? I suppose I can see that.”
Demarest said, “From what I could tell her focus was feeling free.” She glanced at Bowman.
Bowman said, “Absolutely. But isn’t that any sane person’s goal?”
Demarest said, “She joked about it. Trying on cougar fur. I laughed.” Downcast, as if confessing a sin.
Bowman said, “I laughed, too. When your friend jokes, you laugh.”
I said, “Doug was also much younger than Meagin. Eleven years between them.”
“Really?” said Demarest. “I assumed less...”
Bowman said, “We both did. Wow. What would that make him — thirty?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“A baby. Unbelievable, all that money at that age. Meagin said he was a bit younger, I was figuring a couple of years. Until she said that, I’d imagined some white-haired golf-playing dude. Twenty-nine. Wow. We really didn’t know her.”
Milo said, “Did she ever tell you how she met Doug?”
“Some sort of pickup,” said Bowman. “She brushed that off, too. Maybe she was into the Madame X thing. Maybe she felt it gave her allure, I don’t know. Not that she’d need it, she had a fantastic body and a face like an actress.”
Milo said, “Did she ever get into her and Doug’s relationship?”
“You suspect he did it.”
“Not at all. At this point we don’t think anything.”
“If you’re asking if she complained about him, she didn’t. But Meagin never complained about anything. Like being alone in that house, I asked her wasn’t it spooky or at least lonely. She just laughed.”
Demarest said, “The truth is, she didn’t say much, period.”
“Yeah, she was the quiet one,” said Bowman. “Which was fine. When we got together it was to relax, not to get into heavy stuff.”
Milo said, “Where did you hang out besides the day spa?”
“Nowhere besides the day spa. For Lani and myself it’s precious downtime. Every morning we’re up early for work.”
I said, “So Meagin never said anything about her background?”
“Nope, just that one crack about no more older guys. And she wasn’t playing games by holding back.”
“What kind of games?”
“You know,” she said. “Those people who work on getting you curious so they can feel important when you ask questions? Then they parcel out information and basically take control.”