"Is it true?"

"That's not the point. How would he know?"

"Lilly told him."

"Really? Why would she do that? She might tell him I came by, tried to get her to change her testimony. But take her out? She wouldn't tell him that. Not if she went. She'd try to keep him from knowing that."

"So, it's true," Cora said.

Melvin grinned wickedly. "What's the matter? You jealous?"

Through the door came the voice of Lennie Fleckstein, talking loudly. "Hey, Chief, where have you been?"

Then Harper's voice: "Where's your client?"

"He's locked up. I meant to ask you, Chief-"

The door was flung open.

Cora smiled. "Come in, Chief. We were just talking about you."

CHAPTER.

44.

Harper was furious. He slammed the door of his private office, turned to face Cora. "All right, what the h.e.l.l do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to help you out."

"Oh, sure. Interrogate my prisoner before I get a chance to. Without his lawyer present. How the h.e.l.l did you manage that?"

"Just asked him to leave."

"Do you know what a mess this could be? Do you realize what Rick Reed could do with that?"

"Don't tell him."

"I'm not amused, Cora."

"I kind of got that. You wanna keep beating me up, or you wanna know what I know?"

"What's that?"

"Melvin didn't do it."

"Oh, great," Harper said sarcastically. "The guy bats his eyes at you and suddenly he's innocent. What the h.e.l.l has that creep got that women turn to jelly?"

"I'm not turning to jelly. I'm trying to help you out. If you don't appreciate it, I'll shut up and you can solve your own d.a.m.n case, but I happen to have the goods."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry that Melvin happens to be innocent if it makes you so angry. But the facts are the facts. You wanna hear 'em, or you wanna complain you don't like the way they add up?"

Harper took a deep breath. Exhaled. "Fine. What are the facts? Why is Melvin innocent?"

"Largely because he didn't do it. But that's not what you mean. You mean, how do I know that he's innocent? Melvin points to the fact Lilly Clemson told the boyfriend about his visit. On the theory she couldn't do it if she was dead. It's a poor defense. Of course, he could have come back. But here's the thing. Melvin doesn't know his wife's in town."

"You asked him?"

"Of course not. Then he'd know his wife's in town. I asked him about his marriage. As far as he knows, his wife is at home plotting things with lawyers, or preparing to plot things with lawyers, or whatever. He has no idea she's here. But she is, and if she followed him at night to a young lady's apartment, she might think the worst, and if she was a jealous, vindictive sort, she just might take it out on the woman in question."

Harper snorted in disgust. "So, that's your reasonable doubt. I suppose you suggested this to Melvin's attorney."

"Then they'd know she's in town. They don't know, and let's keep it that way. Until such time as you arrest her for the murder, or pin the crime on someone else."

"I'm still waiting for your proof that Melvin didn't do it."

"I gave you a logical inference."

"I don't want a logical inference. You said you had proof."

"How about this. Melvin left Lilly alive. That's attested to by Lilly's boyfriend. Melvin went back to the motel, where Bambi will swear he never left again."

"Her testimony's worthless. She'd swear that in any case."

"Uncontested, it gets him off."

"That's the prosecutor's problem, not mine."

"It is when Ratface wants to know why you arrested a suspect he can't convict, and demands you do better."

"He's the best I've got."

"That isn't even halfway true. You got Mrs. Melvin. You don't like the jealousy bit? The fact she's here at all proves it."

"She's getting evidence for a divorce, not knocking off his girlfriends."

"What about the boyfriend? Melvin calls on his girlfriend, and what does he do? Go over and make sure she's all right? No, he goes to the police. Makes a complaint. Gets you to go. Why? Because he doesn't want to be the one to find the body."

"What a minute, wait a minute. You're saying the boyfriend killed her?"

"He's more likely than Melvin."

"Why?"

Cora threw up her hands. "It's like talking to a wall. Melvin had no motive. So she didn't do great in court. The punishment for that is death?"

"You make it sound ridiculous."

"Because it is ridiculous."

"Is it any more ridiculous than the theory her boyfriend killed her because a guy threatened her for the way she testified in his divorce hearing?"

"Not when she went out to dinner with him." Cora frowned. "Do I mean 'Not when'? This is too long and convoluted a dialogue chain. I'm not sure if the negative is correct here. Or do I mean to say 'It is when'?"

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

"Linguistics. Never mind. The point is, Melvin took Lilly out to dinner. Before she testified."

"You know that for a fact?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I know the way your mind works. The more Melvin was involved with her, the more reason he'd have to kill her. Which isn't true. The more Melvin was involved with her, the more reason her boyfriend would have to kill her."

"He didn't do it."

"How do you know?"

"He went to pieces when he saw her."

"Of course he went to pieces. Her throat had been cut."

"It wouldn't be a shock if he'd done it."

"Sure it would. Take a killer, throw his murder in his face. You think he wouldn't react?"

"Crabtree still looks good for it. You throw in he went out with the girl-"

Cora inquired if Chief Harper was an amorous individual of limited intelligence.

The chief was shocked. "Cora!"

"Every time I think you're getting better you disappoint me. So Melvin killed both of his witnesses against me in the alimony hearing? How the h.e.l.l does that make any sense?"

"We didn't arrest him for both crimes. Just the one."

"Do you think someone else did the other? And they both just happened to leave KenKens with the bodies? Two separate serial killers armed with number puzzles?"

"If they each did only one, they're not serial killers."

"No. They're copycat killers. It's a fraternity stunt. Everyone has to commit a similar crime."

"Speaking of number puzzles..."

Cora groaned. "For Christ's sake."

"Have you solved it yet?"

"Dan just gave it to me."

"Right. You had no time to solve it. You were too busy interviewing my prisoner."

"I'll be happy to solve it, but it's not going to mean a thing."

"Is that a professional opinion or just an educated guess?"

"I'm not sure it's educated."

"Come on, Cora. You gonna help me or not?"

"I've been helping you. I've been doing nothing but helping you. Not that you seem to notice."

"Come on. Solve the d.a.m.n thing."

Cora sat down, whizzed through the puzzle.

"There you go."

"So what does it mean?"

"I have no idea, without a clue to point me in the right direction."

"The other one pointed you to a mailbox with a gun."

"That one didn't come with a corpse. It came after the murder."

"Yeah. And guess who it was delivered to? The gentleman currently in jail."

"You keep coming back to Melvin."

"No, the clues keep coming back to Melvin. I'm just following the clues." Harper pointed to the KenKen. "So tell me, what is there about this number puzzle that points to Melvin that you don't want me to know?"

"You think it's his cell phone number? Too short. The number of women he's been with might be about right, but how would anybody know?"

"You're just being silly."

"The idea is silly. Someone puts a cryptic clue in a KenKen puzzle and expects anyone to figure it out."

"And yet you found the gun."