Becky pointed to herself. "I won't. I don't have to go to jail to lose it all. I have never been so close in my life to getting disbarred. It's a tough thing to have on your resume. A bit of a career killer, you know what I mean?"

Cora dabbed her mouth with her napkin, tried to hide the relief she felt at not having been found out. "Look, kid. I'm with you. No one's getting disbarred here. All we have to do is solve this thing. Granted, you've been led into some questionable practices by an irresponsible client. If the police found out, that would be bad. So let's make sure they don't. The quickest way is to solve these crimes so they stop looking."

"When you put it that way, it sounds so easy."

"Hey, this is not rocket science. We happen to know Melvin called on Lilly Clemson last night after previously taking her to dinner. h.e.l.l hath no fury like a woman scorned. If a woman he dumped was the jealous type, she just might take her rival out. Does that sound like anyone you know?"

"Yeah, you."

Cora shot Becky a dirty look. "And you give me grief for fooling around. I was referring to the current Mrs. Crabtree, who has been secretly spying on her husband, and was not happy he took Lilly Clemson out to dinner. And that was before hubby went to see her in the wee hours of the morning. If you want a killer all gift-wrapped with a nice little bow, she's it."

"She killed Lilly Clemson?"

"Why not?"

"And left a crossword puzzle and a KenKen pointing to her husband?"

"Absolutely."

"Why would she do that?"

"To pay him back for the grief he's given her."

"Yeah," Becky said dubiously. "But if she loves him and wants him back, why is she sending him to jail for murder?"

"She's not sending him to jail. She's giving him grief. The same way he gave her grief. She's leaving just enough evidence to implicate him in the crime, but not enough to convict him. If it did look like the cops had him, I bet she's got some backup plan to put in effect to prove he's innocent. One that wouldn't blow her cover by involving her."

"So she planted the gun in the motel room?"

"Absolutely."

"And sent the puzzles to Melvin and the bimbo?"

"Sure. Knowing they'd bring 'em to me."

"How could she be sure of that?"

"Because they couldn't solve them themselves."

"That's a bit of a stretch."

"A stretch? Are you kidding me? You got a whack job running around killing people and leaving puzzles. Anything she does is going to be a stretch."

"She also killed the banker?"

"Sure."

"Why?"

"To make trouble for the two people she hated most. Melvin and me. She kills Melvin's witness. The one he's taken such great pains to cultivate. She leaves the KenKen to make sure the police will bring me in. Just in case they don't, she diabolically leaves a crossword puzzle at my house. A puzzle implicating me. How embarra.s.sing will that be, when I solve it for the police? Or, what a horrible position I'll be in if I withhold it from the police. Which is what she's really hoping for. What a position of power that will put her in. I'm walking around with a bombsh.e.l.l she could explode at any moment."

"How?"

"An anonymous tip. Or another puzzle made public that I have to solve. I don't know. The point is, it's the type of thing that sends me to jail and gets you disbarred."

"Keep your voice down."

"It's a win-win for Mrs. Melvin. Particularly if it has the side effect of freaking out the bimbo, who couldn't have had a murder rap in mind when she signed on for the Melvin experience."

"You're serious?"

"You're d.a.m.n right I'm serious. Someone killed these people. It wasn't Melvin, but it was someone with an ax to grind, and she tops the list. She's been here from the beginning. She followed Melvin up here, set up shop in the motel, monitored his actions. Saw him meet with the banker, take the teller out to dinner. She didn't like it, but she didn't want to show her hand, so she sent him a little warning by breaking into the banker's house. She didn't take anything, but left a KenKen. Which just happened to yield the amount of the alimony payment we were fighting over. She figured I'd solve it, see the amount, and freak out. It didn't occur to her I'd be too dumb to notice, and wouldn't have known at all if you hadn't pointed it out."

"And why did she kill the banker?"

"First warning didn't take. After court, while you were romancing the lawyer, I bet you Melvin tried to take the teller to lunch. At least dropped by the bank to go over her testimony one more time. Bad move. Mrs. Melvin is p.i.s.sed. So she strikes. She doesn't want to kill the teller, who hasn't testified yet. She wants Melvin to win the alimony suit. Keep the money in the family. She kills the banker, and leaves a puzzle pointing to me. What she hadn't planned on was I've got an ace attorney smart enough to get the banker's testimony thrown out of court. If she'd known that she wouldn't have done it, but she didn't, so she did."

"My head's hurting."

"Have some Frappuccino."

"No thanks. So, she didn't count on the banker's testimony being thrown out?"

"Of course not. Never occurred to her. h.e.l.l, never occurred to the judge, until you brought it up."

Becky thought that over. "Okay, say she did it. How do we interest the police? With Melvin in jail, they're not going to be very receptive to any theory about anyone else. So how do we drag her into this?"

"Well, we still have a court hearing, don't we?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Call her as a witness."

CHAPTER.

51.

"Do you trust me, Melvin?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"It's the kind of question a woman asks when a man is in jail and she's not."

Melvin exhaled, gripped the bars of his cell. "Fine. You got the upper hand. Too bad you had to get me arrested to do it."

"I didn't get you arrested."

"No, you just gave the police a number puzzle that happens to have my license plate."

"I didn't give it to the police. It was found at the scene of the crime."

"Lennie said you gave it to the police."

"Who?"

"My lawyer."

"That was a crossword puzzle. And I didn't give it to the police, my lawyer did."

"Your lawyer's trying to frame me? And she seemed like such a nice girl. h.e.l.l, I'd fire Lennie if I thought she'd take the case."

"She can't take the case. She's representing me."

"In the alimony hearing. Which is kind of on hold until I get out."

"That's what I want to talk to you about."

"Getting out?"

"No, the alimony hearing."

"Oh, come on, Cora. That's conniving, even for you. What's the deal, I drop my suit and you get me out?"

"I hadn't thought of it, but that's a great idea."

"You're kidding."

"Yes, I am. Did it ever occur to you I want to help you out of the goodness of my heart?"

"For old times' sake?"

Cora grimaced. "Oh, you had to spoil it. Bringing up old times."

"It's not like there weren't any good ones. Remember the boat ride?"

"What boat ride?"

"The gondola."

"That was a rowboat."

"So you do remember. You brought a picnic lunch. We spread out a blanket on the sh.o.r.e. That was a nice day. You were happy then."

"I was," Cora admitted. "You know why it was so good?"

"Why?"

"You were married to someone else."

Melvin sighed. "You had to spoil it."

"I'm not here to reminisce. I've got a proposal for you."

"A proposal?"

"Wrong choice of words. I'd say proposition, but that would be worse."

"Not necessarily."

Cora felt that hot rush she used to get way back when. d.a.m.n. Melvin still had it. "I need you to focus."

He grinned. "Remember when I had that camera and-"

"Shut up, or I'll get your attorney back in here."

"Not that. I'll be good."

"Okay, here's the deal. The alimony hearing is scheduled to resume tomorrow. I have it on good authority Judge Hobbs is prepared to grant you a continuance on the grounds it would be prejudicial to proceed while you're incarcerated."

"No kidding. So?"

"I want you to reject the offer."

"What?"

"Decline the continuance. Tell him you don't need an adjournment, you're quite prepared to proceed."

"I'm not prepared to proceed. n.u.m.b.n.u.t.s out there is so freaked by the murder charge, he's ready to let the case drop. Two of my witnesses are dead. Thanks to your pretty little lawyer, the testimony left in the record isn't nearly enough to prove the case."

"How about your handwriting expert? Can't he swear I signed the check?"

"I don't think that's enough to sway the judge."

"Maybe not, but it's enough he won't grant summary judgment. Becky will have to put on a case."

"Wonderful. Much as I like to see her strut her stuff in her little lawyer getup, I'm kind of distracted by this murder charge."

"This is your best chance of getting off."

"You're kidding."

"Not at all. Play it the way I told you, I think it will be fine. Can you do that?"