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“Um… Look, I know things aren’t looking too good for my dad right now, but I’m hoping you’ll keep an open mind and consider other possibilities.”

“I’d say the chances of your father being the guilty party here are almost one hundred percent,” said Sarah, making her position perfectly clear from the get-go.

“Oh, I know,” said Odelia. “And frankly my first impulse was to believe he did it, too. But…”

Gran had joined her, and said,“Tex is innocent. And you can quote me on that.”

Sarah rolled her eyes.“Really, Vesta, I think you better leave the police work to the police and stay out of this investigation. And that goes for you, too, Odelia. It’s never a good idea for family members to insert themselves into an active investigation.”

“Well, like it or not, I’m inserting myself to the hilt,” said Vesta. “And now tell me, Officer Flunk, what have you found out so far? And don’t even think about pooh-poohing me. You know I’m going to find out anyway by pestering my son. So start talking.”

Sarah, who clearly felt she was in an impossible situation, decided to choose the path of least resistance.“Okay. So I talked to pretty much everyone present, and they all say the same thing: one minute Jaqlyn was there, and the next he was gone. No one saw where he went off to, though.”

“Did you talk to the wife?” asked Gran. “Or the mistress?”

“Mistress?” asked Sarah with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious? Jaqlyn was having an affair with Monica Chanting, and his wife found out about it. So obviously Francine had a strong motive to give her husband a whack across the adulterous noodle.”

“I don’t know…” Sarah began.

“Well, I do. Now go and do your job and talk to Francine. Ask her point blank about the affair and you’ll see that I’m right.”

Still frowning, Sarah walked off, scribbling something in her notebook. Probably a reminder to herself to steer clear of Gran and Odelia as much as humanly possible for the next foreseeable future.

“Clueless,” said Gran. “That’s what these people are. Looks like it’s up to us to clear your dad’s name, honey. Come on.”

Odelia followed her grandmother, a little trepidatious the old lady would lead her into more trouble than it was worth. Then again, wasn’t justice for her dad worth all the trouble she could get in?

Mayor Charlene Butterwick stood texting on her phone when they joined her. She looked up, and seemed as displeased with their company as Sarah had been.

“I think you better go home,” she suggested. “Nothing for you to do here now.”

“We’re not going home until we’ve caught Jaqlyn’s killer,” said Gran.

“But we already caught Jaqlyn’s killer,” said Charlene, a look of confusion on her face.

“Tex is innocent,” said Gran. “So you better throw your mind back to the party and tell us when was the last time you saw Jaqlyn.”

Charlene barked an incredulous laugh.“You’re not seriously suggesting I killed Jaqlyn?”

“I’m seriously suggesting you reframe the situation and consider the possibility that someone other than my son-in-law killed the guy,” said Gran. “Now talk, or I’m never voting for you again, and I’ll tell all my friends to do the same thing.”

Like any politician, Charlene lived by the grace of her voters, and the prospect of the entire senior citizen community of Hampton Cove voting for the other guy or gal at the next election quickly decided her.“Well, as far as I can tell Jaqlyn spent considerable time inside the house with Monica. At least that’s what one of the waiters told me. He says that he saw Jaqlyn and Monica going up the stairs a little while before he went missing, and he says he could hear them arguing all the way down to the lobby.”

“Arguing?” asked Odelia. “What were they arguing about?”

“The waiter says he couldn’t hear their exact words, but it sounded serious.”

“We need to talk to Monica,” said Gran. “She’ll be able to tell us.”

“Look, this isn’t right,” said Charlene. “You shouldn’t be doing this.”

“We’re the only ones standing between Tex and a miscarriage of justice, Charlene,” said Gran. “So we are doing this, and you better get on board or else.”

As they walked away, Odelia said,“Maybe you shouldn’t go around antagonizing people like that, Gran. Charlene Butterwick isn’t a bad person. In fact she’s probably the best mayor this town has had in years.”

“I know she’s a fine mayor,” said Gran. “But she’s jumping to conclusions where Tex is concerned, and I simply can’t have that. Now where is this Monica woman?”

They’d reached the house, where Monica had been treated for that scratch on her face, but as far as they could tell she was nowhere to be found. And then Odelia spotted her, seated on the same garden bench she and Mom had vacated earlier.

They quickly walked over and took a seat on either side of her. Monica looked startled by this ambush.“What do you want?” were the first words out of her mouth.