The Valentine's Day Murder Read Online Free

and doing some legwork won’t hurt, and the exercise is good for you?”
    I smiled. “Probably.”
    “How do you feel?”
    “As good as the day I met you.”
    “You nervous?”
    “Yes, I’m nervous. I’m not nervous about going to teach my class or driving to the supermarket. It’s just that this is so new and so important, and I keep thinking that I’m over thirty and maybe that makes a difference.”
    “Did you talk to Dr. Campbell about it?”
    “She said she was exactly my age when she had her first child.”
    “So there you are.”
    “You sound like you’re encouraging me.”
    “Chris, we both know you’re going to do this.”
    “We do?”
    “Don’t we?”
    I shook my head. “Maybe we’ve been married too long.”
    He leaned across the table and kissed me. “Not long enough. Just watch out for our mutual interest.”

3
    Carlotta, of course, was very happy that I had decided to give the case a try. She saw my job as finding Val, dead or alive, wherever he was. I saw it from a larger perspective, figuring out who had killed Matty and, if possible, why, and also, because there had to be some connection, what Val’s role in all of this was. I was pretty sure that answers to any of the questions would lead to answers to all. The first thing I wanted to do, I told Carlotta, besides reading everything in the papers about the Valentine’s Day walk across the lake and the recent discovery of the bodies, was to talk to all three wives.
    “I’ll get us all together as soon as you arrive,” she said.
    I said, “Great,” and regretted it almost immediately. “On second thought, it might be better if I speak to all of you separately.”
    “Why is that?” she said with a wary edge in her voice.
    “Because although you may have been best friends before February fourteenth, there’s a large possibility now that one of the husbands killed another of them—or even two of them—and that may not sit well with the survivors.”
    “Whatever you say.” But I thought she sounded disappointed, as though she had hoped to hear what the otherwives had to say, or perhaps because she had thought she was directing the investigation and now realized that could not be. “When do you think you can come?”
    “I teach a class on Tuesday, and we’re coming to the end of the semester pretty soon. I don’t want to fly up tomorrow and rush back on Monday. Let’s say I’ll come up next Wednesday and stay till the following Monday, if I have to. In the meantime, if anything happens,” I was sure she knew what I meant, “let me know. I can always cancel the flight.”
    “You still think Val’s body will surface, don’t you?”
    “I don’t know what to think. I have so many questions I’ll probably go nonstop for days. One of the people I want to talk to is your husband’s business partner.”
    “Why?”
    Again there was the edge to her voice. “Carlotta, partners are intimates. Whether they love or hate each other, they know a lot about each other. If a man is making—or getting—phone calls, his partner is sure to be aware of it. Sometimes mail is sent to the business address instead of the home address. I have to know these things. If you have a problem with any of this—”
    “No, of course not. I just hadn’t really thought about what an investigation entails. When the men disappeared in February, it was assumed to be an accident and the police hardly questioned me. I just have to get used to looking at this differently. I’ll cooperate with anything you want to do, Chris. There won’t be any problems. And you’ll stay with me, if that’s all right.”
    “It’s fine.”
    “I have a big house, and you can use Val’s car. I start it every once in awhile to keep the battery going. It’s in good shape and it’ll be better when it’s driven.”
    “Then I’ll see you next Wednesday?”
    “Yes. I’ll get you a plane before noon, and I’ll pick you up myself at the Buffalo