“We’re starting to wonder if there’s a connection,” Leonora said. “We’ve read the old newspaper accounts but we can’t see anything obvious.”
“The Eubanks murder.” Margaret snorted gently. “You certainly won’t find much in the papers. The Eubanks College trustees exert a great deal of influence in Wing Cove these days, but it’s nothing compared to the power they wielded thirty years ago. They literally ran the town at that time. They could get a police chief fired or force a mayor to resign. They wanted the murder of Sebastian Eubanks kept quiet and that’s exactly what happened.”
“There must have been a lot of gossip at the time,” Deke offered tentatively.
“Of course there was gossip.” Margaret wrinkled her nose. “The wildest rumors you ever heard circulated for weeks. The official verdict, however, was that Eubanks had surprised a burglar in the old mansion that night.
That is the version of events the administration wished to have prevail. So, naturally, it prevailed.”
“What can you tell us about Sebastian Eubanks and his death?” Leonora asked.
“Well, now, where to begin?” Margaret hooked her cane over the edge of her chair and settled back against the flowered cushions. “Sebastian Eubanks was something of an eccentric, to say the least. And getting more so by the day. Took after his father, I’m afraid. He had become quite reclusive and odd at the end. Downright paranoid.”
Thomas sat forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “Odd in what way?”
“He had stopped seeing his friends. Never left the mansion. That sort of thing. Word was, he had become obsessed with his work. He really was a very brilliant man, you know. Quite probably a genius, in my opinion. But we’ll never know because he died before he could make any significant contributions to the field of mathematics.”
“What were the wild rumors that circulated after his death?” Deke asked.
“Well, now,” Margaret said very deliberately, “we were all warned by the dean himself that we must not breathe a word about the gossip. Bad for the college’s image and so forth. Eubanks was even more conservative all those years ago than it is now.”
Thomas exchanged glances with Leonora, Deke and Cassie. He turned back to Margaret.
“It’s been thirty years,” he said. “Can you tell us the gossip?”
Margaret chuckled. “I’m retired, remember? I can do anything I please these days. Besides, the dean who issued the warning died ten years ago. I never did care much for him.”
Cassie smiled. “Don’t keep us in suspense, Margaret.”
“At the time,” Margaret said, lowering her voice to a confidential level, “several people in the department and in the administration were convinced that Sebastian Eubanks was murdered by his lover, not a burglar.”
They all stared at her.
“There was no mention of a lover in the newspaper accounts,” Deke said.
“Probably because the lover was a man,” Margaret said. “A very charming, rather good-looking instructor named Andrew Grayson in the computer science department. Grayson was forced to resign, naturally. The administration applied a great deal of pressure. I have always suspected that the trustees took steps to make certain that he never got back on the tenure-track at any other college.”
Leonora leaned forward and folded her arms on her knees. “Why did the administration work so hard to keep that theory quiet?”
“The silly fools were terrified of a wealthy alumnus who was, at the time, a major donor. He was preparing to endow a chair in the political sciences department and build a new wing for the library. He was rabidly antigay.”
“I get it,” Leonora said. “The administration was afraid that if this donor discovered that Sebastian Eubanks had been involved in an affair with another man, he would pull his funding and take it elsewhere.”
“In a nutshell, yes.” Margaret hesitated. “I heard that the police chief did question Andrew. Supposedly he had an alibi for the time of the murder. But most of those in the know remained convinced that he had killed Eubanks in what amounted to a lovers’ quarrel.”
“What happened to Andrew Grayson?” Deke asked.
“I have no idea. He packed up and left very quietly and was never seen in Wing Cove again.” Margaret looked pensive. “I’ve thought about him from time to time over
the years. He was so very smart. His departure was a great loss to the college.”
“Do you believe that he murdered Eubanks?” Thomas asked.
“Absolutely not,” Margaret replied. “I didn’t believe it then and I don’t believe it now.”
“Why not?” Cassie asked.
“Because I knew for a fact that Andrew Grayson had ended his relationship with Eubanks almost a month before the murder. I also know that it was Andrew’s decision, and that he made it because Sebastian Eubanks’s behavior had grown so extremely bizarre.”
Deke took out a pad of paper he had brought with him and started to make some notes.
They left half
an hour later. On her way to the door Leonora paused at the dainty little desk where the computer sat.
“I see you’re online,” she said to Margaret.
“Yes, indeed.” Margaret’s eyes brightened. “Can’t imagine life without my email account.”
“Do you, by any chance, subscribe to
Gloria’s Gazette
?” Leonora asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. How did you know about the
Gazette
?”
“My grandmother is the publisher and editor,” she said proudly.
“You don’t say. Please tell her for me that I look forward to every edition. My favorite column is ‘Ask Henrietta.’ ”
“I’ll tell her,” Leonora said.
Thomas got behind
the wheel. Leonora sat beside him. Deke and Cassie slid into the back. Wrench rested his
head on the rear seat. All four doors closed. Belts were buckled.
“Okay.” Thomas started the engine. “I admit it, I’m impressed. If all academic department secretaries are like Margaret Lewis, they are a force to be reckoned with.”
“Every college and university in the nation would fall apart without them,” Leonora said.
“Now what?” Cassie asked.
“That’s easy.” Thomas put the SUV in gear and drove out of the parking lot. “Now we see if we can track down Andrew Grayson.”
“No problem.” Deke reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a wireless palm-sized computer. “If he’s alive, I’ll find him. Heck, I’ll find him even if he’s dead.”
Thomas drove in silence. Thinking. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same thing.
A few minutes later Deke looked up from the tiny screen. “Got him. Or at least a current address.”
Leonora turned in the seat. “So fast?”
Thomas glanced in the rearview mirror. “You’re sure it’s our Andrew Grayson?”
“Age fits.” Deke worked on the computer for a few more minutes. “He’s retired now. Got his social security number from the college records. It all matches. Says right here that he was employed at Eubanks for two and a half years. Yep, he was there at the time Eubanks was murdered.”
“He’s our guy.” Urgency moved through Thomas. “What’s he been doing for the past thirty years?”
“Figuring out what Grayson has been up to for the past three decades will take some time,” Deke said. “But I can tell you one thing, he sure as hell isn’t trying to hide. And judging by the address I’ve got here I’d say that whatever happened to his academic career at the time of the murder, it didn’t ruin his life.”
“Where’s he living?” Cassie asked.
Deke looked down at his screen. “Mercer Island. It’s in the middle of Lake Washington, between Seattle and Bellevue.”
“Expensive neighborhood,” Thomas said. “You’re right. He must have done okay for himself.”
Leonora put one arm on the back of the seat. “I vote we talk to Andrew Grayson. As soon as possible. Probably better to do it in person. We can be in Seattle in less than two hours.”
Thomas flicked a quick glance at his watch. “It’s a waste of time and energy to have all four of us move in lockstep like this. We need to get more efficient. I suggest that Leonora and I drive into the city to see Grayson. Deke, now that we’ve got some new leads, I think the best thing you can do is concentrate on digging up whatever else you can find online that concerns Grayson and Eubanks.”
“Right,” Deke said. “Cassie’s got classes to teach this afternoon so she can’t go with you either.”
“That settles it.” Thomas slowed for the turn that would take him to Deke’s house. “You and Cassie stay here. Leonora and I will head for Seattle. We’ll call you as soon as we’ve talked to Grayson.”
Cassie halted in
the short, shadowed hall. Deke closed the door slowly and tried to find words for what she had done.
“Thanks.” That sounded pretty lame. He tried again. “If you hadn’t come up with Margaret Lewis’s name, we wouldn’t have any of this new information.”
“I hope it helps.”
“I don’t know where this is going, but at least we’re no longer completely stalled.”
She made no move to take off her coat. Instead, she glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly noon. I’d better be on my way. Busy class schedule at the studio this afternoon. I want to get a bite to eat first.”
She was going to leave. He didn’t want her to go. Not yet. He wanted to talk to her. Discuss what they had learned from Margaret Lewis. Tell her how he planned to pursue his online search. Hell, he didn’t care if they made
inane conversation about the weather. He just wanted her to hang around for a while.
He groped for inspiration. And found it when he saw the half-finished loaf of bread on the counter.
“I’ve got to get to work, too,” he said. “But we both need some lunch.” He tried to sound casual. “I’m going to make a sandwich. Just as easy to make two.”
She looked hesitant. Then she shrugged. “All right.”
Panic assailed him, rendering him briefly speechless. She had accepted the offer of food. He prayed fervently that he had something on hand he could use to make a sandwich, any kind of sandwich. He vaguely recalled some cheese in the refrigerator. The bread was a little old but maybe it would be okay if he toasted it.
“Great,” he said weakly.
Intent on heading for the kitchen, he moved past her. He stopped at the entrance to the living room. The day was gray and misty outside, but the living room was as dark as the interior of a cave. Was this how the place looked to her every time she came here to give him a yoga session? It was damned depressing.
“I’ll open the curtains,” he said. He changed course and headed for the nearest window.
She gave him a brilliant smile. “Good idea.”
He went from one window to the next, parting the curtains to let in the gray daylight. When he surveyed his handiwork he concluded that the room was still a little gloomy. He switched on a couple of lights before he went into the kitchen.
He found the cheese on the middle shelf of the refrigerator and examined it closely. There was no obvious sign of mold. Relieved, he turned his attention to the half-finished loaf of bread. No green stuff on it, either. Definitely his lucky day.
Cassie made coffee while he constructed the
sandwiches. It felt good to have her here in the kitchen with him. He wondered how she felt about it.
“Not exactly lasagna and apple pie,” he said when he put the plate containing the toasted cheese sandwich in front of her a short time later. “I need to do some grocery shopping.”
“It looks great.” She sat down across from him and picked up half of her sandwich. “I’m hungry.”
He watched her eat the food he had prepared, fascinated. Why hadn’t he ever thought to invite her to stay for lunch?
She paused in mid-chew and gave him an inquiring look. “Something wrong?”
“No.” Embarrassed, he picked up his own sandwich and bit into it.
They ate in silence for a while. Rain dripped steadily from the porch roof outside the kitchen window.
“There’s something I have to ask you, Deke,” she said eventually.
“Sure.” He swallowed. “What?”
“When this business is over, do you think you’ll be able to let go of Bethany’s memory? Or is she going to haunt you all of your life?”
He went very still.
“I need to know,” she said quietly. “It’s important.”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds while he worked to find order in the chaos of his thoughts.
When he opened his eyes he found Cassie watching him very steadily.
“It’s been all jumbled up for a long time,” he said, stringing the words together carefully, trying to get it right, for his own sake as well as hers. “Three days before Bethany was killed, I told her that I wanted a divorce.”
“I see.” She ate some more of her sandwich.
“I felt a lot of guilt at the time. I knew she needed me
to take care of her. But I needed something from her, too. After three years of marriage, I knew she couldn’t give it to me.”
“What did you need from her?”
“I wanted a wife.” He raised his shoulders and lowered them. “Someone who slept with me, not in her office. Someone who occasionally remembered that I was a man, not a butler or a personal secretary. I wanted kids. She said they would interfere with her work.”
“I get the point. How did she take it when you told her you wanted out of the marriage?”
“I’m not sure she even heard me that day, to tell you the truth. She had been completely wrapped up in her Mirror Theory for several weeks. Totally focused on her work. She said we would have to talk about it later because she was very, very busy. She didn’t come home for the next two nights. The third night, Ed Stovall showed up at my door to tell me that she had driven her car to Cliff Drive and jumped off the bluff.”
“I hate to ask, but are you certain there wasn’t another man?”
He shook his head. “Positive. If you had met her, you would understand. Bethany lived only for her work. She wouldn’t have had any interest in an affair.”
Cassie slowly lowered the last portion of her sandwich. “That made your sense of guilt a whole lot worse, didn’t it?”
“Yes.” He groped for a few more words. “It would have been easier for me if I thought she was involved with someone else. I would have felt justified in filing for a divorce. As it was, I just felt bad because I knew she depended on me to take care of everything.”