"Her mother Viveca. I'm sure she's glad Alison isn't throwing one of her tantrums, but the statue act is almost as unnerving."

A look of reluctance passed over Nick's strong features. "I should offer my condolences to the Peytons."

"Yes. They're both staring at you."

"Be right back."

Neither Lily nor her father smiled at the sheriff. Natalie knew Lily didn't care for him-she liked Sheriff Purdue's down-home demeanor. Oliver Peyton liked Purdue because he was a puppet. Nick Meredith was no one's puppet.

Loretta was bearing down on Nick as he walked back to Natalie "Is there somewhere we can talk?" he asked suddenly. "Somewhere private?"

Loretta struck. "Sheriff Meredith!" She beamed, showing her perfect teeth. "I've been wanting to meet you. Loretta Leery. I voted for you!"

"Thank you," Nick said awkwardly.

"Loretta, is the back room empty?" Natalie asked.

"Need a cigarette?"

"I don't smoke," Natalie said, then could have bitten her tongue for fumbling the perfect excuse. "I need to sit down. My shoes are too tight; my feet hurt."

"Right this way," Loretta answered, then glanced back in surprise as Nick followed them. "Do your feet hurt, too?"

"Uh, I thought you might have some coffee back there. I've been going since five this morning."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Loretta exclaimed loudly. People looked again. "Why, of course we have coffee. And some doughnuts and Danish. The pastries were my idea. Leonard didn't approve, but I said, 'Leonard, people need a little boost to get them through ordeals like this.' And do you know that we received nothing but compliments on the addition of food? Sometimes I do have a good idea. I just have trouble making Leonard come around to my way of thinking. Well, here we are. Coffee, food, and the freedom to smoke."

"Thank you, Loretta," Natalie said as the woman hovered at the door. "We'll just be a few minutes."

"Take as long as you like." Loretta gave her an exaggerated wink of conspiracy indicating she knew Natalie's real intention was to get the handsome young widower alone. Natalie felt color tingeing her cheeks. Loretta the perpetual matchmaker. Naturally she would interpret the situation romantically. "Just relax, you two. Everything is in control out front, and it's very private in here."

She fluttered her fingers in farewell and rushed down the hall, no doubt to tell Leonard that something was going on with Natalie and Sheriff Meredith. It couldn't be helped and really didn't matter, Natalie told herself, although she hoped Nick hadn't been as aware of Loretta's sly looks and innuendoes as she had been.

Nick was already drawing coffee from the big urn. Natalie felt if she had any caffeine, she might shoot right through the roof. Her nerves tingled.

"Okay, what is it?" she demanded. "Don't tell me someone else has been murdered."

He looked at her in surprise. "No. Sorry I scared you. I just wanted to talk to you. Hysell has an interesting theory about the connection among the murders."

"Hysell? Ted Hysell?"

"Yes. Don't look so shocked. He has more on the ball than I thought."

Natalie shrugged. "Will wonders never cease? What's his theory?"

"Do you remember Eugene Farley?"

Natalie took a deep breath. "He used to date Viveca Cosgrove. She was dating my father until she met him."

"Really?" Nick shook his head. "I didn't know about that."

"I was glad when Viveca stopped seeing Dad. Ever since her husband died she's gone through men like tissues. I was afraid he'd really fall for her and then she'd dump him. Well, she dumped him, but I don't think he felt anything serious about her." She frowned. "But you asked about Farley, not Viveca. Farley was head accountant at Bishop Corporation. He embezzled funds. He was tried and found guilty. Right after the trial he shot himself and died."

Nick sat down on a folding chair and took a sip of coffee, saying nothing. Natalie waited, then said impatiently, "I don't get Hysell's brilliant connection."

Nick looked at her. 'Think about it. Oliver Peyton was Farley's attorney, and he lost the case. Richard Hunt was the accountant who exposed Farley. Max Bishop owned the company Farley stole from. He could have fired Farley and let things slide, but he brought up Farley on charges. Now a daughter of Peyton, the son of Hunt, and the daughter of Bishop have been murdered."

"They are all children of people involved in the Farley case," Natalie said slowly.

"Right."

"My God." Natalie sat down on a folding chair beside him. "That can't be the connection. It's too farfetched."

"You'd chalk the connection among the victims to coincidence?"

"Saying it's a coincidence sounds just as far-fetched." Nat alie thought for a moment. "But, Nick, these three people had more in common than being children of people who knew Eugene Farley. They were involved in a love triangle."

"In a case involving a love triangle only one or two people are murdered. If there's a third death, it's a suicide. None of these was a suicide." Natalie's forehead creased in thought and her gaze grew far away. "Today I called Constance Farley, Eugene 's mother," Nick went on. "Her husband died just weeks after Eugene. She lived in Columbus at the time of the deaths, but six months ago she moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. I learned that tidbit from Ted, who is dating a woman who was involved with Farley."

"Good Lord, what an incestuous little town we are!"

Nick grinned. "I wouldn't go so far as to say incestuous, but it's hard for me to get used to all these relationships. I like it, though. It makes getting information easier."

"Who needs paid snitches when everyone knows everyone else's business and loves to talk about it? So what did you ask Mrs. Farley? If she'd been in Port Ariel slashing people's throats?"

"I tried something more subtle, but she got my meaning. She seemed shaky, but she told me she hadn't left Knoxville for months. She claimed she didn't know anything about the murders and she didn't want to know. She said, 'I just want to be left in peace.' "

"And you left her in peace."

"I didn't push it, but I called the Knoxville police and gave them the story. Very cooperative bunch down there. Two hours later they called back and told me they'd talked to Mrs. Farley's neighbors. Seems she's never been gone for even one day since she moved in almost six months ago."

"The neighbors have seen her every day?"

"Yeah. She has a dog and walks it rain or shine."

"How about when they can't see her? She could have come up here at night."

"It's approximately a sixteen-hour drive from Knoxville to here."

"She could fly."

"I thought of that, but the Knoxville police also told me Constance doesn't have a driver's license, which eliminates car rental. She'd have to fly into Cleveland and take a commuter flight to Port Ariel. The commuter flight schedules don't fit. She couldn't leave Knoxville at night and be back early the next day."

"You are thorough." Natalie tapped her fingers on her cup. "So Constance Farley hasn't been running back and forth to kill people in Port Ariel?"

"Seems not, and the Knoxville cops found the idea a stretch. I joked along with them, but I felt like a fool for suggesting it. When you say it, it does sound crazy, but I can't ignore the connection of the victims' parents with Eugene Farley, much as I hate to give up on the idea that Lily or her father had something to do with the double homicide." He paused. "You look uncomfortable. What is it?"

"This morning someone pulled another prank." She told Nick about the call from a woman claiming to be Lily and her meeting with Jeff Lindstrom. "You're going to ask if the voice on the machine sounded like Lily's," she said. "I saved the message and played it back twice. It's close, but it isn't Lily's voice. The enunciation and pace are right but not the quality."