Page 55 of Puzzle for Two

Zach said stiffly, “Alton’s brother, Ransford, I’m guessing.” Though Ransford had only received a passing mention in Alton’s dossier, Zach had started his own research on the younger Beacher. “Alton mentioned he was flying in last night.”

Flint threw him a quick look. “Is the brother in Beacher’s will?”

“I haven’t been able to verify. As far as I can tell, he’s Alton’s only living family member, so it’s likely. I can’t see Alton willingly leaving anything to Zora.”

“That wouldn’t have been a bad thing to mention earlier.”

“I hadn’t ruled him out. But you wanted to focus on Zora, which I agreed with.”

“What’s the relationship between the brother and the widow?”

“Unknown.”

Flint threw Zach another of those brief glances. He gave an unsatisfied grunt.

As they reached the main highway, Zach said, “There are two viable suspects in addition to Zora. One is Ransford. The other is Ronald Jordan, the owner of Old Timey Fun Ltd. He and Alton were college roommates. They’re still friends, in theory, but they’re also, at least according to Alton, business rivals.” Zach related his encounter—well, Alton’s encounter—with Rusty at the hotel in Spanish Bay.

“That’s interesting,” Flint said. “So, he was definitely Team Zora on the weekend. How far back do he and the missus go?”

“Alton met Zora in college when he and Rusty were roommates, so…”

“Hm.”

“The thing of it is, Alton listed Rusty as a potential suspect. He didn’t seem to consider Ransford at all, but he really was convinced Zora was behind the threats, so even his suspicion of Rusty was probably more about ticking boxes than anything.”

“We need to check out Jordan’s and Beacher’s alibis.”

“Ransford flew in this morning from Iowa. According to Alton the trip was supposed to be partly a business one.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard to verify when he actually arrived.”

Zach said, “Right. Also, after I left you this morning, I did some checking. According to Rusty’s administrative assistant, he’s currently in San Diego. He received some kind of award at a children’s charity banquet last night. I found photos of the event online. He was there, shaking hands and accepting his plaque. Even if he managed to get a flight at that time of night from San Diego to Monterey, which is doubtful, he’d be cutting it pretty close.”

“That’s good work.” Flint sounded surprised, which didn’t do much to make Zach feel better.

He didn’t answer.

“Are you going to return those phone calls?”

No, I’m going to make a run for the border.But of course, Zach did not say that. “When I get back to the office.”

Flint considered. Nodded.

The rain started again, spattering the windshield. Flint turned on the wipers, and theirsqueakandscrub, sounded unnaturally loud in the prolonged silence.

Finally, Flint cleared his throat. Eyes on the road, he said in a carefully neutral tone, “When I get excited, I yell. It’s a bad habit. If I sounded—I’m sorry if I was rough on you. I know you weren’t—didn’t—fool around with Beacher. I’m worried because I’m not sure everyone is going to understand the decisions you made.Idon’t understand the decisions you made. Which is why I overreacted. Probably.”

“It’s fine.”

“When you talk to the detectives, tell them everything. Be honest.”

Zach gave Flint a look of exasperation, but he could understand why, at this point, Flint doubted his common sense. “I will.”

“But don’t overexplain. Don’t volunteer information beyond what they’re asking. Don’t share your theories or guess at anyone’s motives. Stick to the facts and keep the facts to a bare minimum.”

Just the facts, ma’am!

“Right.”

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