The next time Cully asked about Gavin was 2 weeks later. Joyce had just told her about the latest murderer who was dressing up victims in historic women's clothes and making them jump into the lake with rocks in their petticoats.
"Let me guess, Gavin thinks this is related to that old myth around Drownshire Lake. The one about women committing suicide because most of the men in that village were killed in one of those clan skirmishes in the 1600s. Their ghosts haunt the lake now, looking for more victims."
"Well" Joyce said, "I don't know. Your father hasn't mentioned anything about that."
Cully laughed, "Mark my words, Dad will be grumbling about hairbrained superstition before the week is over. That was the first thing I thought of. It's a local legend that gets told all the time when we went out on Troop camping trips."
Sure enough, on Thursday that week Cully was proven right when Tom came home in the evening mumbling about foolish, childish tales. He spent nearly 20 minutes asking Joyce how a grown man could even consider thinking a depraved mind murdering people could be related to a scary story told to children.
When Joyce asked Tom if Gavin thought the killer was mimicking the Drownshire Lake ghost story, he was surprised. Joyce brushed it off as sounding familiar and went back to "cooking" dinner.
Slowly from then on, Cully would always ask about Gavin. What his idea on a new case was, what he and her father were working on.
In her second year at University she adopted the habit of calling her father and Gavin "the boys".
"Cully when you come home on Wednesday please remember I'm my rehabilitation group will be over for dinner that night." Joyce said one Fall Sunday.
"Oh yes. I remember. How do the boys feel about that? You know they don't like you spending too much time with them. Dad especially, with them coming in the house." Cully knew her father wasn't a fan of Joyce's latest project, working with women recently released from prison. Gavin was also suspicious, as Joyce mentioned last time it came up. Both men, working in law enforcement as they do, were not always ready to be unsuspecting of those who had been previously convicted of crimes.
"Well they can have a little more understanding. These women served their time and are trying to rebuild their lives. I don't know why they don't see that." Joyce said, not recognizing the change in Cully's addressing Gavin and Tom until later while washing up from supper.
Joyce never mentioned it but like with everything she saw, she made mental observations. There was a reason she secretly delighted in being married to a policeman. You see, Joyce fancied herself decently able to figure out puzzles and read people. With Tom doing this so frequently, it started to rub off on her and she got better at it as they were married.
She noticed she was able to get better deals haggling over new flowers in the market by reading people's moods and actions. She would never stick herself into cases, the sadness and death weren't something she wanted to deal with. But the little puzzles Tom brought home were often fun. She always felt like a million dollars when she was able to offer perspective or solve something for Tom. He would always beam at her like a child on Christmas before rushing back to work.
Her senses always sparked when Cully mentioned Gavin, something was telling her to pay close attention.
Her senses also noted the change about a year later, when Cully started calling them "our boys".
"Cully, it's not funny. They could have been hurt." Joyce was not appreciative of the flippant way her daughter was reacting to her latest news.
"I'm sorry Mum." Cully chortled. "But the mental picture of them trying to chase someone through the mud in costumes from the Renaissance Fair is just too much."
"I'm still mad at your father. He knew that their suspect was likely to be armed. What if he had cornered them?" Joyce was not a fan of running after murders in any context but to dash about as Gavin and Tom did was frustrating for the more sedate Joyce.
Cully tried to placate her mother. "It's nothing our boys couldn't handle. I have full faith in them to catch their man without too much trouble."
Later over tea, Joyce was distracted, paying no attention to the new clothing catalog on her lap. "Our" she whispered, contemplating. It was a possessive term, not of ownership but of inclusion and belonging. Our boys…our family. Joyce wasn't sure in which way Cully was intending her words to go. Was she just including Gavin as part of the family or was it something…else.
It was in those moments of contemplation that Joyce realized another series of clues she had been missing. When Joyce spoke to Gavin, which was once or twice a week, he would ask about how Cully was. He always mentioned something specific like how was she doing in that audition for Hamlet.
And, Joyce sat up, having forgot until now. That Tom wasn't mentioning those details to Cully. Once she had forgotten to updated Gavin on Cully's successful audition for Annie and had asked Tom to update Gavin the next day. Tom had been confused; how did Gavin even know about Annie. Tom claimed he didn't talk about Cully, it wasn't right. He valued the separation between work and family, even if it was a little blurry at times. But before they could think about it, there was a late-night call and Tom was absorbed with a new series of tragic deaths.
How did Gavin know to ask about Annie? How did Gavin know anything about Cully if it wasn't Tom updating him? Joyce reached for her tea, holding the cup between both hands right under her chin. Blowing softly, the smell of the chamomile wafting up, and the liquid warming her as she sipped.
The next time Gavin called to excuse Tom from dinner because of a case, Joyce attempted to get an answer.
"I understand Gavin, tell him I'll have something in the oven for when he gets home."
"Thanks Mrs. B. It will probably be a late one, this." Gavin sounded certain, and Joyce planned on going to bed before her husband arrived home.
"Oh dear. Well you too be safe. And Gavin," Joyce said. "I don't know if you heard but Cully got into a London show for the summer."
"I did!" Gavin said, excitedly. "It's just great, talk about moving up to the big leagues!"
So, he did know, curious.
"Did Tom mention it?" Joyce feigned confusion. "I just got a call from her today; I haven't told him yet. How did he know…" Joyce trailed off leaving a silence she knew Gavin would jump to fill. For someone trained in interrogation he wasn't good with leaving silence out there.
"What? Oh I." There was an almost audible gulp from Gavin, "I swore I heard it from him. In fact, I'm sure he must have mentioned it sometime…what?" The sound of Gavin taking the phone from his ear and muffled voices came over the line. "Sorry Mrs. B, something came up. Gotta go."
The line went dead before Joyce could take in a breath to say anything more.
Gavin must have learned the information from somewhere. But if it wasn't her, and it wasn't Tom that left one option. But how or why would Cully have spoken to Gavin?