Bruce Clark Jr. last spoke to his mother on Christmas Day, when she called him while visiting her oldest son and his wife in Dickson County, Tenn.
The conversation was brief. They wished each other a Merry Christmas, and Clark promised to visit her when she returned home to Orange, Mass., next week.
Yesterday, Dickson County police said Gail Clark, 66, and her 38-year-old daughter-in-law, Mary Clark, were found shot to death in Mary Clark's modular home just outside of White Bluff, a town of 2,900.
"This is definitely a tragic thing to happen," said Bruce Clark in a telephone interview yesterday from his home in Salem, N.H.
"I'm taking it pretty strong. Everyone else is weakened by it. Maybe I'll just break down later. It hasn't sunk in yet," he said.
Police have charged Mary Clark's 15- and 16-year-old foster children with the slayings, according to WSMV-TV, a Nashville station. The suspects were not named in the report.
Earlier in the day, police had said they were interviewing the teenagers.
"They are very cooperative and assisting in the investigation," Dickson Sheriff's Detective John Patterson said, according to the Associated Press.
Police said there was no sign of forced entry or sign of a struggle and that one of the victims may have been sleeping when she was shot.
Mary Clark's son, who does not live in the home, also was being questioned, according to the Associated Press.
Bruce Clark said he does not know what happened.
He said his mother and his father, also named Bruce, have been married about 50 years and have been living in Orange for about 30.
Gail Clark, who was fond of knitting and crocheting, had five children, 22 grandchildren, and several great grandchildren, Bruce Clark said.
He described his sister-in-law as a kind woman who moved to Tennessee from New Hampshire with her family about two years ago.
Police said Mary Clark's husband and their daughter were not home during the shooting.
"She was very nice, taking in strangers, you know," Bruce Clark said of his sister-in-law. "A very nice lady."
The elder Bruce Clark said he was too upset to comment.
"We're getting the family together, and we're grieving," he said in a brief telephone interview. "We're still trying to put it all together with the strength of the family. This has been a very, very bad day."
The killings rattled residents of White Bluff, a quiet community about 25 miles west of Nashville.
"We don't hardly ever lock our doors or take the keys out of the vehicle," Councilman James Martin said in a telephone interview.
"It's always been a safe place, and hopefully it will continue to be that way."
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.
