“Ah, so Stephen was showing a little too much interest in the old man’s property.”
“Yeah. Don’t you think that’s weird? Or at least coincidental? Something doesn’t feel right about him.”
“Okay, yeah,” Mac said, fiddling with his fork. “Let’s go with that feeling. Why did he kill Jesse?”
“He heard about the necklace and thought he’d try to steal it. He needs money. His financial career failed miserably. When he tried to check into Hennessey House, his credit card was rejected.”
Mac grimaced. “Can’t hold that against anyone.”
“Normally I wouldn’t, but he was a financial adviser. You’d think he’d know which of his credit cards worked.”
“Good point.” He bit into a piece of steak. “How’d he kill him?”
“We already know how Jesse died, so we just have to figure out how Stephen got into the house and got him to swallow the sleeping pills.”
“What’s your best guess?”
I chewed on some lettuce while I thought about it. “I say he used his father to gain access. He came over to tell Jesse that Ned was sick and he was worried about him. Stephen tells him he just needs someone to talk to. Jesse invites him in for a beer and they get to talking. Stephen slips the drugs into Jesse’s drink, and when he falls asleep, Stephen starts the search for the necklace.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“And that same scenario can be played out with any other name on the list.”
“Except Althea,” Mac said.
I frowned. “Right. She had more access to Jesse than anyone else. So there’s opportunity.”
“Good one, grasshopper. Means, motive, opportunity. The holy trinity of homicide. So, tell me about her motive. Why’d she want him dead?”
“Because she wanted . . .” I was stumped. “What did she want? She wouldn’t get his house or his money if he died. I guess if she somehow heard about the necklace, she might want it.”
“Of course she would want it.”
“But the letter we found with the necklace explained that if Jesse died, it would go to Jane. But maybe in a moment of weakness Jesse mentioned the necklace to Althea and she started lobbying to get it.”
“Lobbying.” Mac nodded approvingly.
“You know, dressing seductively and . . . oh, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And that’s what Cuckoo was thinking, too. Now that Althea was in Jesse’s life, the necklace would go to her—unless Cuckoo made his move.”
“Okay, that’s good for Cuckoo. But let’s go back to Althea.”
“Okay.” I tried to think. “Why else would a woman kill a man?”
“Lousy in bed?”
I waved my hands in front of my face. “Noooo, Jesse was like my uncle. Don’t paint that picture for me.”
Mac’s blue eyes twinkled with laughter as he took another sip of wine.
“It’s really not funny.”
“Of course not. Sorry.” But he was still grinning.
I shook my head a few more times until the image of Jesse and Althea was tamped down, but I knew it would always be there, waiting for the right moment to appear again. “Here’s the other issue about Althea. I never saw her before in my life until the funeral. Did you?”
“No. But I haven’t been around that long.”
“I lived next door to the man and I never saw her. She told us that Jesse preferred to travel to Blue Point to see her, rather than bring her to Lighthouse Cove. I wonder if she’s even been inside Jesse’s house.”
“Good question.”
“Don’t you think someone would’ve seen her at some point?”
“Maybe somebody did.”
“I know Bob and Ned met her a few times, but otherwise nobody in Lighthouse Cove ever saw her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if someone in this town ever got a good look at Jesse’s girlfriend, it would’ve been front-page news within minutes.”
“You’re right about that,” he said, smiling.
I thought about Althea for a minute. “And since the funeral, I see her all the time. So if she wanted Jesse dead and got her wish, why’s she hanging around now?”
“Because of the necklace.”
“Bingo.”
He took another bite of steak before continuing. “Okay, let’s move on. Bob is in a coma, so we’ll give him a pass. But there’s Ned, Stephen’s father.”
“Oh, but he’s so nice.”
“For a killer,” Mac said, sticking to the program. “What’s his motive?”
“The necklace. He was there when Jesse found it, right?” I gasped as something occurred to me. “What if Ned was the one who found it and Jesse stole it?”
“Scooby, that’s brilliant.”
“Ruh-roh.”
He grinned. “You’re getting the hang of this.”
“I really am,” I said, tickled that I’d remembered the big dog’s signature phrase. “Okay, there’s one problem. When I asked Ned about the necklace, he swore he’d never seen it before.”
“He was lying,” Mac said, adding, “For this scenario only.”
“Okay. And Stephen plays a key role because he wants to help his dad recover what was rightfully his.”