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ôIsnÆt he EmmaÆs husband?ö asked Carlotta. And when Odelia nodded, she said, ôI donÆt think IÆve ever met the man. IsnÆt he a computer programmer or something?ö

ôHeÆs the lead programmer on the Valina Fawn site,ö said Odelia.

This seemed to come as a surprise to Carlotta.ôSo Emma and Valinaàö

ôEmma isnÆt involved in the site. At all,ö Odelia was quick to say.

ôOh. Well, at least thereÆs that.ö

ôI never met the man,ö Dennis muttered miserably when Chase gave him an inquisitive look. ôAnd as far as I know, neither he or Emma are members here at the club.ö

There didnÆt seem to be a need to ask the Brooks if they could think of anyone who would want to harm Valina. It was obvious there were plenty of candidates to choose from.

ôIÆm going to need to list of all your members,ö said Chase now.

ôWhy is that?ö asked Dennis.

ôBecause of the way she was murdered, of course,ö said Carlotta. ôHavenÆt you been paying attention?ö

ôHowàö Dennis began.

ôShe was shot with an arrow, Dennis! Straight through the heart. And if you ask me, the killer was much too kind. He should have shot her through the spleen. Very painful deathùor so IÆm told.ö

As we walked back to the car, Chase was studying the list Dennis had printed out in his office. He whistled when he spotted one particular name.ôAdra Elfman,ö he said, ôand if memory serves, I think I saw a Mr. Elfman on ValinaÆs list of clients.ö

ôThere could be others,ö said Odelia as she opened the door so we could hop into the car. ôWe better cross-reference both lists. We may come across a few more surprises.ö

Chapter 12

ôCarlotta Brook is an Olympic archer,ö said Odelia once we were en route. ôShe actually won Olympic gold in her discipline.ö

ôAll the more reason to put her on our list of suspects,ö Chase grunted as he checked the GPS display. ôAnd by the looks of things her husband could be next.ö

ôYes, she seems to be very upset with Dennis at the moment.ö

ôUpset! If looks could kill the man would already have died the most excruciating death. She said the killer was being kind.IÆm being kind by not arresting her on the spot.ö He frowned. ôDo you think I should have arrested her? Just to make sure she doesnÆt kill Dennis?ö

ôI really donÆt think Carlotta is a killer,ö said Odelia. ôSheÆs the only one who readTears in the Mud from cover to cover and even supplied Mom with some apt questions to discuss in book club.ö

ôYour point being?ö

ôThat sheÆs a deeply sensitive and romantic soul, who wouldnÆt hurt a fly.ö

ôYou can like a book and still be a vicious killer, babe. One doesnÆt exclude the other, as I think prison librarians will tell you.ö

ôDo you think Carlotta killed Valina, Max?ö asked Dooley.

ôToo soon to tell,ö I said. ôThough she certainly had motive and means. I donÆt know about that key card, though. Seems unlikely that she had access to Norwell yesterday. Though she and Emma are both members of MargeÆs book club, but unless Carlotta dropped by EmmaÆs yesterdayà No, Norwell spent all day at the office, and he took his key card with him. So that seems to be out of the question.ö I frowned. ôThis whole thing seems to revolve around that key card. Who had access to it and when?ö

ôHe had it when he went to work in the morning, so whoever took it,ö said Dooley, ômust have taken it at the office somehow.ö

ôWhich narrows down our list of suspects considerably.ö

Odelia, whoÆd been listening to our conversation, said, ôIt does, doesnÆt it? We better check in again with Norwell. Have him go through his day, from the moment he arrived until he went to bed. Whether he dropped by a shop, or the fitness club, or even took the dog for a walk. We need to know when the killer had the opportunity to get that key card.ö

ôUnless Norwell is our guy,ö I said. ôIn which case itÆs pretty obvious how he did it.ö

ôYes, obvious, but not necessarily true,ö said Odelia.

She pored over the two lists now, the Brookwell member list and the Valina Fawn client list.ôThere are too many names here to do this on the fly,ö she finally admitted.

ôI already sent both lists to one of my officers,ö said Chase. ôTheyÆll handle it.ö

WeÆd arrived at the cozy little home of the Elfmans, Adra and Gene. A nice apron of green with plenty of colorful flowers fronted the house, which was obviously well-kept. Chase parked his squad pickup and we all got out. Moments later we were sitting in a small but pleasantly furnished living room, Odelia and Chase sipping from cups of coffee, and Dooley and I being fed a piece of cold chicken that tasted quite delicious.

ôI like being a detective, Max,ö said Dooley. ôPeople are always so nice to us.ö

ôThatÆs because they donÆt want to go to prison,ö I said. Though we werenÆt always received in this way. Some people, when they opened the door and found a cop flashing a badge in their faces, slammed the door shut and made a run for it through the backdoor.