He and Tom shook hands, both smiling broadly, and then Ed offered his favorite phrase. “What can I do ya? I saw you eyein’ those tools. Nice, huh?”

“They are, but if I buy another tool from you, I might have to open Tom’s Used Tool Shop. And that would be major competition for you.”

“Oh, you got nothin’ on me. Just try it and we’ll see what happens.” Ed laughed and looked at me. “Miss Jillian. I don’t see enough of you.”

I smiled. “Your shop is too tempting. I love that washstand, but I don’t know where I’d put it.”

“You love it? Then it’s yours,” he said. “Free, of course.”

“Wait a minute,” Tom said. “I pay for everything I get here.”

“Well, you ain’t pretty.” Ed shared his wonderful broad grin, the charming one he often surprised me with.

“Thanks, Ed,” I said. “But I need something from you that money can’t buy.”

“Uh-oh. You gettin’ yourself into trouble again, Miss Jillian?” Ed said.

“Me? No,” I said. “I’m helping Shawn with a little problem, and I heard you might have some info that could be useful. This concerns Ritaestelle Longworth.”

Ed pursed his lips and looked at the floor. The silence that ensued made me want to look at the floor myself. How could simple body language create tension so quickly?

“You know her, right?” Tom said.

When Ed looked up and faced Tom, his eyes had gone stone-cold. “Yeah. What of it?”

“I—I tried to visit her.” My stomach felt tight with apprehension. Ed was always affable and kind, but the look in his eyes was anything but. “They wouldn’t let me talk to her. Her staff, I mean. Problem is, I sensed something was wrong with her.”

“That’s assumin’ something was ever right with the woman,” Ed said.

“What does that mean?” Tom asked.

Ed went behind the long counter, knelt down and came up holding a rifle.