Bess had spoken to Tess at the bakery, but Tess wanted to walk with her once the cups were cleared. Mara offered to come. Bess said the two sisters had each heard her and she would rather take the short route to her shop with Tess alone. Tess saw Mara's mouth tighten before she agreed. It was the first time Mara had been asked to step back by one of June's people, not by Tess.
Outside, Bess walked without hurry. “June once told me you worked with books,” she said.
The pavement outside the bakery had been washed, and water gathered in the cracks around a tree. Tess walked on the dry side so Bess had the easier footing. Bess noticed and shook her head. “Don't put me in a story where I'm frail. My knee is fine.”
“I wasn't.” Tess switched sides, feeling awkward.
“Your mother did that. Decided what somebody needed before asking. She could be right, too. That's what made it hard to correct her.”
Tess looked back toward the bakery window. She could see Mara inside, motionless with her cup. For a long time Tess had imagined June kept the two daughters in different rooms because their temperaments demanded it. This week had given her a less comfortable possibility: June had liked deciding which daughter got which part of the truth, and they had learned to be grateful for the parts.
“I manage library programs.”
“She said you were good at getting people to say what they meant.”
Tess had not heard June say that to her. “She liked when I was direct until I asked her a direct question.”
Bess gave a small laugh. “That's June.”
“I didn't ask you here to defend her.”
“I know. I wouldn't have come to do that.” Bess stopped at a crossing.
“Was Nell kind to the women she carried?” Tess asked.
Bess considered the question while they waited for the signal. “I had a mother and her child once. A few women. I can only tell you about my place.”
“That's who I meant,” Tess said, though she had been asking for more.
“Nell carried a fan up three flights and stayed until the room was comfortable. She also asked me to lie about a fee June had promised her. I refused.”
Tess tried to fit that woman beside the additional guest at the hotel. A person who carried a fan could still put Tess's name on a booking. She had seen the booking. “Did you know Nell needed June's papers?”
“Needed, or wanted?” Bess asked.
“Wanted badly enough to put my name on a hotel room and try to collect a packet June left for me. The hotel stopped her. It's at home now, still sealed.”
Bess took this in without interrupting. “So you're asking if I know what Nell wanted to read.”
“Yes. And whether she had reason to think June kept records of her work.”
“June kept records of everything.” Bess glanced at Tess. “I assume you know that better than I do.”
Tess thought of the locked case at home, the chair against the cupboard. “I know now.”
“I know she argued about pay,” Bess said. “I don't know what June wrote afterward.”
“Neither do I yet.” Tess had gone too far by asking Bess to explain a packet neither of them had read. “I'm trying to find out why Nell came for it.”
At the next corner, the Alder Hotel came into view. Tess had not planned a route past it. Bess slowed. A woman in a dark coat stood near the side entrance, facing a man who blocked the path with one arm against the wall. He did not touch her. Tess could hear only the rise and fall of their voices over traffic.
“That's Nell,” Bess said. “At the entrance. The woman.”
Tess took in the coat, tied-back hair, and profile. She was near enough now to recognize the woman if she turned, but Tess had never seen her before Bess named her. The man spoke louder. “Owen. You can say my name.” It was the first full sentence Tess could make out. Nell stepped around him. He let her pass, then called after her. Tess could not hear the rest.
Bess put a hand on Tess's sleeve. “Don't follow them for me.”
Tess wanted to call Nell's name and see her turn. Bess's hand was still on her sleeve.
“I wasn't going to.” Tess had already taken one step forward. She stopped, and Bess let go of her sleeve.
They crossed when the light changed. By then Nell had gone inside. The man walked in the other direction. Tess noted the time and place in her phone, then put it away. Bess watched her. “Will you tell Mara what I said?”
“Yes. She's waiting at the bakery.”
“Tell her. I don't need a secret between sisters. But call me before my name goes anywhere else.”
“The hotel?” Tess asked.
“They can know I saw Nell here. Nothing about the person who stayed with me.”
Tess nodded.
“If you need me to describe Nell again, call me yourself.” Bess gave Tess her shop number. “No chain of messages through your mother, now that she's gone.”
Tess called Mara from outside the shop. She gave Bess's recognition, then the hotel-side exchange and the only name she'd heard. Mara was quiet at Owen. “Do you know him?” Tess asked.
“Owen is the man Alma left,” Mara said. “I never met him. I can't tell you whether the man you saw was him.”
“We heard him give the name. We don't know what he wanted from Nell.”
“No. Are you coming back?”
“Yes. Bess wants to speak to me directly if she remembers more. She isn't cutting you out.”
Mara breathed out. “She doesn't owe me a place in her account.”
Tess had wanted to make the sentence easier for her. She let Mara keep it. She went back to the bakery to show her sister the shop number, not to resume the walk as if the man by the hotel had already explained himself.