"There was a crossword puzzle. Find me a crossword puzzle."

"As a matter of fact..."

Cora's heart sank. Was the chief really going to throw a crossword puzzle in her lap, expect her to solve it on the spot? How was she going to tap-dance her way out of that?

"As a matter of fact what?" Cora said irritably.

"I was just going to ask you if perhaps there had been a crossword puzzle from some other source."

Cora's heart fluttered and she sucked in her breath. Just the type of guilty reaction a cop would be apt to notice. Why was he asking her that?

"You're asking if someone sent me a crossword puzzle that would explain what this KenKen means?"

"I was not asking specifically if anyone sent it to you. I was asking if you got one from any other source. Like filched it from the crime scene before the cops could get a look."

"I wasn't at the crime scene."

"Yes, you were. I saw you there."

"That was after you'd been there and searched it. You think I stole something from the crime scene you missed?"

"I don't know what you're capable of these days. Your ex-husband comes to town and you start acting different. I don't know what you're capable of."

"I'm not capable of finding something that isn't there."

"Not when I saw you. But had you been there earlier, before the cops? In time to spirit the evidence away?"

"Would that be a felony?"

"It certainly would."

"Then I couldn't possibly have done it. I'm a law-abiding citizen."

"If that turns out to be the case..."

"It won't. Because I didn't do it. This KenKen is as meaningless to me as it is to you. And I have no idea, whatsoever, of anything that might shed any light on it. Including, but not limited to, anything I might have found, seen, or heard of that could possibly relate to this jumble of numbers at all."

"You're really worked up, you know."

"Oh, right," Cora said. "Pester and goad me until I react and then tell me I'm really worked up."

Harper nodded sympathetically. "I can make allowances. I understand how you feel. I'm sorry I arrested your man."

Cora's face reddened. Her eyes blazed.

"He's not my man!"

CHAPTER.

45.

"Sherry. Thank goodness you're home."

"Of course I'm home. You've got the car."

"Oh, that's right."

"Where are you calling from?"

"Pay phone at the Country Kitchen."

"You gotta get a cell phone, Cora."

"Yeah, yeah. Look. You gotta do me a favor."

"What?"

"Run down to the mailbox."

"Why?"

"See if anyone sent us a puzzle."

"What makes you think they would?"

"There was a puzzle when the banker got killed."

"That led us to your license plate. I thought you weren't admitting that."

"I'm not."

"You think there's a puzzle this time?"

"I don't know."

"Implicating you?"

"Or Melvin."

"You're worried about Melvin."

"Give it a rest, Sherry."

"That's so cute."

Cora started a string of invectives, but Sherry had put down the phone. The screen door slammed as she went out.

Sherry was back minutes later. "Nothing there."

"Good."

"Why is that good? Couldn't you use a hint just now?"

"A hint would be fine. A crossword puzzle would be embarra.s.sing. Since I just swore up and down to Chief Harper there wasn't one."

"Oh, here's Aaron. Hey, honey, in the kitchen! Maybe he's got something."

"If he did, he wouldn't be home."

"Hi, honey," Aaron said. "Is that Cora?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Lemme talk to her." Aaron's voice came over the phone. "Cora, I got something for you."

"What?"

"The boyfriend. He went ballistic when he heard Randolph asked her out."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a reporter. That's my job."

"How come you didn't get it before?"

"The boyfriend wasn't important before. The fact Randolph asked Lilly Clemson out wasn't even news until Rick Reed started touting it. The word now is the boyfriend had a fight with the banker."

"Physical or verbal?"

"Word is just verbal, but plenty heated."

"I see."

"I thought you'd be more pleased."

"Why?"

"It lets Melvin off the hook."

"I'm not in this to get Melvin off. I'm in this to find out what actually happened."

"Right," Aaron said.

He didn't sound convinced.

CHAPTER.

46.

"Becky! You gotta help me!"

Becky Baldwin looked up from her desk. "Christ, I wish you had a cell phone."

"I'm glad I don't. My life is complicated enough without it."

"Yes. But then your lawyer can't reach you. I need Chief Harper to b.u.t.t out of my business. He was in here reading me the riot act. You snuck into the holding cell and interviewed his prisoner."

"I wasn't in the holding cell."

"Oh. Touchy. He didn't say it was a conjugal visit. He said you had a talk."

"Why was he telling you?"

"I'm a licensed attorney. I have to cooperate with the law."

"You're a licensed attorney and you have to respect the confidence of your client."

"Thank you. I needed that refresher course in legal ethics. The problem is, Harper thinks you're holding out on him."

"I am holding out on him."

"What?"

Cora grimaced. "You're gonna beat me up, but there was no reason to tell you. Now there is. Harper thinks maybe I found and suppressed a crossword puzzle that would tie in the KenKen found with Lilly Clemson's body. I didn't, but I did in Roger Randolph's murder."

"What?"

Cora told Becky about finding the crossword puzzle and having it yield her own license plate number.

"You held out on me?" Becky said.

"Well, it hardly seemed relevant to an alimony hearing."

"Did it seem relevant to the murder?"

"I wasn't charged with the murder."