"Of course I've heard of Cora Felton. She's the Puzzle Lady."

Dennis laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just that's the only thing you've told me so far. That Cora Felton is the Puzzle Lady."

"Well, everyone knows that."

"Yes, they do. That's why I find the information less than useful. I understand you've had particular reason to know about the Puzzle Lady."

"I don't know how that puzzle got in the paper."

"Didn't your wife put it there?"

"I suppose she did."

"And you knew that, didn't you? But you automatically lied. It's like a reflex action with you. Is it because you're a lawyer? Is that why you do it?"

"I've had enough of your insolence. What do you want?"

"Do you know Cora Felton searched your house?"

"What?"

"Your wife didn't tell you that. I wonder what other things she hasn't told you."

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing at all. That was just for fun. Cora Felton found something, stuck it in her purse. I don't know what it was, but she told the cops about it." Dennis was watching Chuck's face. "Ah, I see that means something to you. You know what she found. What was it?"

"I have no idea."

Dennis shook his head. "There you go again. The automatic lie. Just when we were having fun. This Benny Southstreet that you never heard of-you know who he is? He claims he wrote the puzzle Cora Felton gave your wife that got printed in the paper."

"What?"

"That's what he claims. Personally, I think he's the guy who broke into your house. He knows where it is, he knows what it looks like. And he needs to find evidence to back his lawsuit."

"Who is this guy?"

"Ah, now you're interested. Can I assume something valuable was taken?"

Chuck clamped his lips in a tight line.

"I'll take that as a yes. And Cora Felton found evidence of the theft. Did Benny drop something, I wonder, something that might have his fingerprints on it, something that would implicate him?" Dennis studied Chuck's face. "No, that's not it. And you know that's not it. Now, how do you know that's not it? Did the cops ask you about it? Aha! The cops told you about it. Asked you if you know what it is. Did you lie to them? I'll bet you did. That would be your immediate reaction. Even if you didn't have to. I wonder if you had to. Now, why would that be? Let's see. Suppose it was drugs. That's a biggie. Did Benny rip off your drugs? No, that doesn't work. If the cops found evidence of drugs, you wouldn't be here. No, it's gotta be something embarrassing but not illegal. You have a porn site, by any chance? That Benny Southstreet found on your computer? Did Cora discover it and write down the URL?"

"Now you're just wasting my time. Who the hell are you? What has any of this got to do with you?"

"Ah, the crux of the matter. I'm an interested party, and I'm not the police. If you lost something valuable, perhaps I can get it back. For a percentage, of course. Should we say half?"

"Are you a private eye?"

"Oh, my God. This gets better and better. First a cop, now a private eye. You're missing the point. I'm the guy who can help you out. I'm the guy who can get back what was stolen."

"What makes you think you can do that?"

"I'm in a wonderful bargaining position. I have nothing to hide. I haven't done anything illegal. I can act on your behalf, and I can act on Mr. Southstreet's behalf, and I can effect a reconciliation. And neither one of you will complain, because you don't want to involve the police.

"Now then, let's start again. What did Benny Southstreet take from your study that you would like to have back?"

Chapter 25.

MR. WILBUR RUBBED a hole in the sludge on his dirty windowpane, and peered out to see who was knocking on his door. The man on the doorstep didn't look like an antiques dealer. There was something way too cagy about him. Not that antiques dealers weren't cagy. The most knowledgeable people in the world were antiques dealers. But this guy was different. This guy looked like he knew nothing about antiques, and couldn't care less. There were a fair share of them in the business too. They had the look. Wilbur knew it well. The look of someone hoping to screw you out of one particular item.

Wilbur opened the door on a safety chain. "Yes?" he demanded.

Benny Southstreet put on his most ingratiating smile, which didn't fool Wilbur for a moment. "Are you open?"

"Depends what you want."

"I want to see some antiques."

"Name one."

"Excuse me?"

"What antique do you want to see?"

"Just browsing."

"I'm not open for browsing. You think what you want, come back."

Wilbur slammed the door in his face.

Benny Southstreet stood on the front steps and assessed the situation. It was not the first time he had had a door slammed in his face, so he was not astounded by the occurrence. He mused for a moment how a man with so few people skills managed to stay in business. He assumed the guy owned the house and had next to no overhead.

Benny knocked on the door again. When it opened a crack, he said, "Rattan chairs."

The door slammed shut.

Not the right magic words.

There came the sound of the chain being removed.

Ah. Open sesame, after all.

Wilbur opened the door, but still stood blocking the doorway. "What about the chairs?" he demanded.

"I'm interested in them. I'm wondering who else is."

"You wanna buy some chairs?"

"I'm interested."

"Would your interest be reflected in cash?"

"Are you asking if I want to pay for the information?"

"I'm asking if you want to pay for the chairs."

"You got chairs for sale?"

"I might."

"But you don't right now?"

"Not at the moment."

"That doesn't sound promising. Maybe I should buy 'em on eBay."

"You'll get taken."

"Oh?"

"You'll pay too much for bad quality. Your furniture will fall apart."

"You wouldn't advise buying on eBay?"

"Only if you want to throw away your money."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Huh?"

"You're bidding on chairs on eBay. I don't know why you're doing it, but you are."

"How do you know that?"

"Don't worry, I won't blow your cover. I just find it interesting that you're bidding. And who you're bidding against."

"What do you mean?"

"You're bidding against Cora Felton. Did you know that?"

"What!?"

"Yeah. That's gotta be a kick in the crotch. The famous Puzzle Lady muscling in on your business."

"How do you know that?"

"It's my job to know. What I don't know is what's so all-fired important about these damn chairs. If I were you, I'd let her buy 'em. When a woman gets her mind set on something, it's hard to stop her."

Wilbur squinted at Benny suspiciously. "What's this got to do with you?"

"The woman ripped me off. I'm wondering if she's ripping anybody else off. If she is, I'd like to know it."

"You say she's the one bidding against me?"

"That's right."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm staying in a motel outside of town. The Four Seasons. Unit 12. You find out why the Puzzle Lady's bidding against you, you let me know." Benny rubbed his chin. "Unless you know now. You know now, you can save yourself the trip. No reason we shouldn't work together."

"No reason we should," Mr. Wilbur said, and slammed the door.

Chapter 26.

CORA RAN INTO Mimi Dillinger outside of CANINE CUTS, the dog groomer in the mall. Mimi had Darlene in the stroller. A bag of freshly purchased Pampers hung from the handlebars.

"Oh, what a pretty dog!" Mimi exclaimed. "Darlene, look at the pretty dog!"

"Thank you," Cora said without enthusiasm. For her money, Buddy looked thoroughly humiliated, all poofy and blow-dried with a blue bandana around his neck, and she was sure the little poodle couldn't wait to get home and roll in the mud.

Darlene paid no attention to the dog, probably just to spite Mommie.

Cora sized Mimi up, ventured, "So, about the break-in..."

"The police don't seem to be making any progress."

"Oh, they have something now. Something interesting."

"What's that?"

"The corner of a hundred-dollar bill. It was discovered under the blotter of your husband's desk."