Page 93 of Puzzle for Two

“True.”

He couldn’t help feeling like they were making conversation, because they’d already had this conversation before they’d met with Bill. It was like they were both stalling. Like neither of them were sure where they went from here.

He asked, “What do you think was in Alton’s safe?”

Flint said grimly, “I think we both know what was in Alton’s safe—and why the very idea of it falling into anyone else’s hands was enough to get him in his car and race down that mountainside in the middle of the night.”

Cameron had informed them the police had retrieved the contents of Alton’s safe. He hadn’t revealed what those contents were, but his stony distaste was a pretty good indicator. How the hell many “Galileos” had there been through the years? Zach felt queasy just thinking about it.

“Do you think Alton really was planning to kill Zora?”

“Yeah. I do.” In the yellowish haze of the towering parking lot lights, Flint’s expression was hard and uncompromising.

“So the threats were all manufactured by Alton?”

Flint pondered, said slowly, “That, I can’t say for sure. From what you’ve described, I think he believed he knew where the threats came from.”

“I agree. It’s why he wasn’t nearly as concerned as he should have been.”

“He might have assumed Zora was behind the scary gifts. In which case, he’d figure that threat would soon be neutralized. Even if he suspected the gifts came from Jordan, I don’t think he’d take it that seriously.”

“No way could Rusty Jordan have crawled beneath that Porsche to tamper with the brake lines. I mean, not only does he have a solid alibi, he’s physically not built for sabotage.”

“Yeah, Cameron says the alibi is solid.” Flint said thoughtfully, “He’d have had to have help with that.”

“Zora?”

Flint shrugged. “If so, I don’t know that I blame the lady. Especially, if she knew what he was planning.”

Zach couldn’t agree. “If she thought her husband was planning to kill her, she should have gone to the police.”

Flint said peaceably, “We’re just speculating. We have no proof. Even if Zora had the know-how, she’s probably not dumb enough to do job herself.”

“Chico?”

“He’s got an awfully convenient alibi.”

“It checked out, according to the police.”

“Yep.”

Zach bit his lip, considering Chico’s attitude when he’d confronted him the morning after Alton’s death. Chico had been pretty cocky for a bodyguard whose client had been killed on his watch. So maybe Flint was onto something.

Either way, not their problem. Their part in the investigation was, per Bill Cameron, over.

“Anyway,” Zach said. A brilliant conversational opening if there ever was one.

At the same time, Flint said, “Speaking of billable hours…”

They both stopped. Zach laughed. It sounded nervous to his own ears—and maybe to Flint’s too, because he offered a quizzical smile.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Not a clue,” Zach said.

Flint’s smile grew crooked. “No clue at all?”

“Well, I mean… Ihope—”

---