maybe?”
“A bribe’s more like it,” Renie said, sorting through the
rest of the handbag. “Maybe Andrea was trying to buy her
husband’s fidelity.”
“This is kind of interesting,” Judith said, holding up another
receipt. “It’s from Thursday, and it’s for lunch at the Manhattan Grill. Andrea filled in all the tax-required info. Apparently, she treated Patrice Killegrew.”
“So? I imagine it doesn’t hurt to butter up the boss’s wife
now and then.” Renie dug deep into the leather handbag.
“Hey, I found another wallet. More keys, too. No wonder
this sucker’s so heavy…” Renie stared at the items in her
hand. “This is Barry’s stuff!”
Judith put Andrea’s wallet down on the bed. “I’ll be
darned. What about the notebook and the rest of it?”
“It’s all here.” Renie handed the weathered notebook to
Judith.
For a few moments, Judith was silent. “These things were
meant to be found,” she said at last. “If Andrea was a suicide,
and the Leon Mooney affair story didn’t wash, then we were
supposed to believe that Andrea had killed Barry. Let me see
those keys.”
Renie handed over the ring that Judith had found in the
cave. “Six keys,” Judith said, spreading them out on the
counterpane. She pointed to the first key on the ring. “House
or apartment key, right? The next one’s the same type,
probably for a second lock. The big one’s a car key. It looks
a lot like the one to my Subaru. These three smaller ones
are—what? A gym locker? A filing cabinet? Luggage?”
“They could be any of those things,” said Renie, looking
puzzled. “What’s your point?”
“Did Barry have a car?”
“How would I know?” Renie sounded mildly annoyed,
then snapped her fingers. “He must have. How else could
he transport his catering supplies?”
“Okay.” Judith seemed satisfied. “So that big key would be
his. Where then is the key to the company van he drove to
Mountain Goat Lodge?”
“Maybe it’s still in the cave,” Renie suggested. “You might
have missed it.”
Judith shook her head. “Not possible. They left in that van,
with Nadia driving, remember?”
“Ah.” Enlightened, Renie smiled at Judith. “Good thinking.
So what you’re saying is that the killer made sure he—or
she—retrieved the van key from Barry after he was dead.”
“That’s right. Now we have to find out from Nadia who
gave her that key. And why.”
“Why what?” The puzzled expression returned to Renie’s
round face.
“If Barry had supposedly run off, he wouldn’t have left the
