upstairs.”
With a sigh of resignation, Renie followed. Judith was
pushing back the nylon shower curtain.
“Don’t tell me…” Renie began with a gasp.
Judith shook her head. “No body. Just…the files.”
Several folders covered the empty tub. Judith picked them
up, handing the first batch to Renie. “They had to be somewhere,” Judith said. “It dawned on me that along with Andrea, Nadia knew Barry Newcombe fairly well. Let’s say that
Barry was privy to some of the items in Andrea’s private
files. He worked for her, didn’t he?”
Renie nodded. “Barry might have snooped. Clerks often
do.”
“Okay. So Barry might have passed something juicy on to
someone else. Why not Nadia? Since he was in the business
of bartering gossip, she’d be a likely client because she’d
know what was happening on the executive floor. Let’s say
Nadia got an inkling that more was to come—except Barry
never got the chance to pass the rest of it on. In the normal
course of events at work, Nadia couldn’t get at Andrea’s
private files. But once Andrea was dead, Nadia seized an
opportunity. That must be who Max saw in the corridor
Friday night. Nadia must have beaten him to the punch by
just a few minutes.”
Renie was looking skeptical. “How did Nadia know Andrea
had those files with her?”
Judith waved a hand. “Andrea was dropping hints, especially about the hooker files. I suspect she was passing tidbits
on to the others as well. Gene and Russell and even
Nadia were being clobbered with some of that data. It had
to come from somewhere.”
The files were somewhat damp, but otherwise appeared
to be intact. The cousins gathered up the folders and hurried
back to their own room, and this time, they locked the door
from the inside.
“The hooker file!” Renie cried. “It’s right on top!”
“Good,” Judith responded, fingering the tabs on the other
folders. “There are files for each of the conferees, including
Andrea. Does that strike you as odd?”
Renie, however, shook her head. “I’ll bet it’s full of stuff
she heard people say about her. Not true necessarily, but
potentially damaging.”
“Corporate paranoia and skullduggery never cease to amaze
me,” Judith marveled. “Shall we start with Ward? He’s first.”
On a gray, wet January afternoon, what little light there
was began to die away shortly after three o’clock. The cousins
had to turn on the bedside lamps before they completed the
dossiers on Ward, Gene, Nadia, Russell, Max, Margo, Leon,
Ava, and Andrea’s own much slimmer folder. Judith and
Renie had learned very little that they hadn’t already heard.
“So what if Ava had had a youthful, unhappy marriage
