After a dinner of beef stew, salad, and the best damn biscuit I had eaten in years, we went to see Sheryl Martindale. Sheryl lived in a small frame house with her husband and two children.

"Sheryl, I know you are busy so we will try to make this quick. Do you have any idea why Mattie went missing?" I asked.

"I have no idea at all," She said quietly. "She just didn't show up for work one day last year. We never heard anything from anyone about what happened. The police investigated and everything. They just didn't find anything at all. Then after a while people just seemed to forget about Mattie."

"Was she having a problem with anyone at work?"

"Not that I ever heard about. Everyone loved Mattie. Sure she was a bit of a flirt but she was harmless."

"So you think someone might have taken her flirting seriously?"

"Lord no, everyone knew that she was married. She seemed to be quite happy being married to Ed."

"Really, we had heard there might have been some spousal abuse. Something about bruises on her neck more than once," Lucy threw that in. It was her first entry into the conversation.

Sheryl just laughed, then said,"Lucy was adventurous. She and Ed played a lot of games. At least that is what she told me when I asked about the bruises."

"So she got the bruises during a role play game?" I asked that.

"I don't think it was role play. I think Ed just liked to play rough and Mattie loved it. At least that is what she told me." Nobody said it, I know I thought it, Things might have gone to far one night. I could tell that Lucy was thinking it as well. Still thinking it wasn't proof.

"I have to ask this even though I get the impression Mattie wasn't the type, but was she having an affair."

"Not that I know of, but she could have had anyone of a dozen men who worked for the county."

We asked and Sheryl answered a few more question but nothing of any importance was said by any of us. Lucy and I left about twenty minutes after we had arrived.

"I know you don't do policemen so I'll talk to the detective who investigated the case," Lucy stated. I was glad she didn't have to be asked. I nodded my agreement.

We stopped on the way home for an ice cream sundae. Neither of us needed the extra calories but what the hell, life is too short to always do the right thing.