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“My son is a moron,” said Vesta. “So I’d advise you not to pay attention to what he says.”

“Your son?”

“The chief of police is her son,” Scarlett explained.

Mrs. Wimmer looked surprised.“Your son…”

“Is a moron,” Vesta reiterated. “But don’t you worry, Mrs. Wimmer. We’re going to get to the bottom of this thing. Odelia is very good at what she does, and so are we. In fact you’re in the presence of the entire neighborhood watch committee for Hampton Cove. I’m the chairwoman and founder of the watch and Scarlett here is vice-president and director of public relations. Isn’t that right, hon?”

“Absolutely, “said Scarlett, who seemed notably pleased with her new title.

“So what can you tell me about your husband, Mrs. Wimmer? Enemies, strangers lurking around outside the last couple of weeks, things that struck you as odd…”

“I discussed all this with your granddaughter last night,” said Mrs. Wimmer, shuffling a little nervously in her seat. “I already told her everything I know.”

Vesta shared a quick glance with her second-in-command.‘Evasive techniques’ that look said. ‘Suspicious,’ Scarlett’s narrowing of the eyes said. ‘I think we’ve got our killer,’ Vesta’s return look indicated.

“Where were you last night, Mrs. Wimmer?” asked Vesta, deciding to go for the jugular.

“I was at an Avon party. I’m what you might call an Avon lady. I had several events planned in Happy Bays over the weekend, and so decided to stay with a friend and colleague. Grace Ojala. I was with her all weekend. You can ask her if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh, I believe you, Mrs. Wimmer. Of course I do. But you understand that us professionals need to make sure that what you tell us is entirely on the up and up. So if you could give us the name of your friend again, and her phone and address.”

Mrs. Wimmer dutifully provided Scarlett with same, and added,“I really don’t understand why Rose would do this. I mean, I understand she has a hard time accepting what happened with Dino, but murder? That’s simply preposterous. Don’t you think that if my husband had been murdered Rose would have noticed? She was home last night, even though she’d told me she’d spend the night with her boyfriend.”

“She was allowed to spend the night with her boyfriend? I thought you and your husband didn’t approve of her relationship with this… Cole Donalds—that’s his name, yes?”

Mrs. Wimmer nodded. She looked down at the carpet, wringing her hands nervously.“It’s true that we didn’t wholeheartedly approve of Cole. At least not at first. You see, Cole is twenty-three. Too old for Rose, Dino and I felt.”

“And an artist,” Scarlett added.

“No, that had nothing whatsoever to do with it,” said Mrs. Wimmer. “I didn’t mind about that and neither did Dino. But Rose is eighteen and the age difference is… the thing is, we both, Dino and I, had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she was dating at all, and then she showed up with Cole… well, Dino was very upset.”

“They fought? Rose and her dad?”

“Yes, they did. Dino wasn’t happy, and when he told Rose how he felt about her seeing Cole, she exploded. Said she was old enough to decide for herself who she was going to date.” She shrugged and gave a weary little smile. “Well, you know how it is when you have teenagers in the house. Things can get tense. But Dino loved his daughter to bits, and she loved her dad, too. Things just got a little heated, that’s all. I’m sure they’d have cooled off just as quickly, if only Dino hadn’t… done what he did.” She swallowed. “If you want to know what I think, I think Rose feelsguilty about the fight. She never really got to make up with her dad.”

“The fight was last week?”

Mrs. Wimmer nodded.“Rose refused to talk to Dino. Said she had nothing more to say to him. And now she never will. And she simply can’t accept that Dino took his own life.”

“Do you think he killed himself because of that fight with your daughter?” asked Scarlett, going way off base, Vesta thought, and not towing the party line which said they were there to investigate a murder, not a suicide. Still she was curious to hear Mrs. Wimmer’s answer.

“I don’t think so,” said the woman. “It may have been a contributing factor, but I’m sure Dino knew that sooner or later things would get patched up again between him and Rose. They were simply much too close to let something like this come between them. No, I think Dino was completely stressed out over something that happened at work.” She directed a pointed look at Vesta. “If you really want to investigate his death, that’s what you should look into. I’m sure that whatever drove him to do what he did is related to the First Financial Crest.”

Once they were out on the sidewalk again, Vesta turned to her friend.“What do you think? Maybe she’s right and Rose is wrong and the guy really did kill himself?”

“It sounds plausible to me,” said Scarlett. “A lot more plausible than that someone managed to kill him while his daughter was in the house and made it look like suicide.”