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true, then. My husband and I are not much together, an arrangement which has been mutually acceptable.” She paused. “Dear me. How difficult to think of him in the past tense.” She was silent for some moments, but what she was thinking or feeling in those moments, I cannot say. She then went on as if there had been no pause. “When he wishes to be here, I find reasons to be in the city, or visiting friends, or traveling.”
    â€œMay I ask why?”
    â€œI’ll try to explain. He found me at a time when, to all appearances, I was a success. The truth is, I was ready to leave the stage but had no real future outside of the theater. I could see that my career was unlikely to last.
    â€œEnter Everett. He enjoyed having a younger woman at his side, and I could see that he especially enjoyed being envied. A competitive streak that I suppose has served him well in business. He likes to win. I was surprised when he proposed. I never expected an offer of marriage from Everett, but he was set on it. If any of his family had been living, I’m sure there would have been outrage. Even here in the country, the match did not find acceptance. But all I saw was security and comfort, more than I’d ever previously enjoyed. If that sounds mercenary, let me say that I’ve paid since.”
    She took a sip of coffee, then continued. “Before we were wed, I had already become aware that he was the sort of gentleman who enjoyed pursuit more than whatever might follow his conquest. This proved to be the case in our marriage, just as it had been in his previous marriages. He was a man of strong passions. I have often thought that he saved all his cool-headedness for business. Outside that sphere, though, he could be moody, angry—quite difficult to live with.”
    â€œI have witnessed the same of him,” Slye said. “If you have lacked invitations, Mrs. Grimes, I believe his temperament and, er, roving eye had more to do with your exclusion from local society than any thoughts about your former career.”
    I wasn’t sure Slye was being truthful, given the stuffiness of some of his neighbors, but I said nothing. His opinion, however, was supported by Wishy.
    â€œIndeed!” Wishy said. “Hate to speak ill of the dead, but—well, if I don’t, I suppose there’s not much to say about him.”
    â€œDid he allow you the same freedoms he insisted upon for himself?” Slye asked.
    â€œOh, no. Everett was a man who would suffer no insult to his pride.”
    â€œHad he experienced such an insult recently?” Slye asked.
    â€œYes. Perhaps that’s why he took poison? I would not have thought it of him.”
    â€œTell us what happened,” Slye asked, not answering her question or correcting her assumption that Grimes was a suicide.
    â€œHe had been doing his best to annoy one of the kitchen maids, Jeannie Lindstrom. We have had trouble keeping young female help for this very reason. I was about to offer her enough severance to be able to support herself while she looked for another position, but as it turned out, she ran off with the chauffeur. Billy’s also young, and as handsome as Jeannie is pretty. I could see he was smitten with her, but it has caused a tremendous amount of upset here. Billy’s mother is my housekeeper, and she is beside herself. And now we are not only short-staffed, but . . .” She gave us a rueful look.
    â€œWhat is it?” the sheriff asked.
    â€œI was going to say that Everett can’t drive worth a—worth a darn, but I suppose I no longer need to worry about that.”
    â€œWhat day did the lovers take flight?” Slye asked.
    â€œTwo days ago. Everett phoned me in quite a state. It took me a while to understand that he thought Billy had arranged to run away with Jeannie, and furthermore, that Billy had vandalized the Hudson. That was late in the afternoon. He was upset, but made