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There would be a record, all right. Colca
"I never heard of this Wilkes," he said, "and I never called him, and I certainly didn't call the gallery."
"What's it matter anyway, Bern?" It was Ray Kirschma
"Ah," I said. "What's significant is that nobody knew it was in the safe in the first place. Except for the Third Burglar."
"The who?"
"Rabbit Margate and Harlan Reese didn't know about the nickel," I went on. "All they knew was that the Colca
I avoided looking in Marilyn's direction while I said all this. Now I caught Carolyn's eye. "Wanda used to stop in my bookstore when she brought her dog for grooming at a place down the street." Might as well keep Carolyn out of it. "The last time I saw her, she happened to mention she was taking the animal out of town to be bred. So, like Rabbit and Harlan, I had inside information. I knew the Colca
"But the Third Burglar knew no such thing. The Third Burglar was waiting for the Colca
A hush went over the room. It was, all things considered, one of your better hushes.
"That was a clue from my subconscious," I said, "but it took me a while to put it together. No one with inside information could have been the Third Burglar, because then he'd have known not to expect the Colca
He was on his feet. "You're crazy," he said. "You're a raving maniac. Are you trying to say I staged a burglary of my own house? That I stole this nonexistent coin from myself?"
"No."
"Then-"
"There was no third burglary," I said. "Rabbit and Harlan stole everything they could find, and I took the three items from your safe, and that's as much burglary as you had that night. There was no third burglary and there was no Third Burglar, and there was nobody hanging around to hit you over the head and tie you up. You killed your own wife."
CHAPTER Twenty-two
For a moment no one said anything. Then Colca
"You'll miss the refreshments if you leave now."
His nostrils flared and he stepped away from his seat. Then a hand took him by the elbow and he spun around to meet the eyes of Ray Kirschma
"Easy," Ray told him. "Whyn't we have a listen to what Bern there has to say? Maybe he'll come up with somethin' interestin'."
"Take your hand off me," Colca
"I think I'm a cop," Ray said agreeably, "and Bern thinks you're a murderer, and when he has thoughts along those lines they tend to pan out. Long as he's got the ball, let's just see where he runs with it."
And where would that be? "Mr. Colca
"But maybe I can tell them where to look. His finances wouldn't be a bad place to start. The Colca
"One thing that made me suspicious was the emptiness of that wall safe when I opened it. One watch, one pair of earrings, one rare coin, plus a handful of papers-people who own wall safes generally utilize them more, especially people with attack dogs who believe their premises are impregnable. I made a few telephone calls yesterday, and I learned that Mr. Colca
"That proves nothing," Colca
"Maybe, but I don't think so. I think you took a couple of major gambles recently-your safe contains some stock certificates that represent securities you've taken a heavy loss on. And I think you paid a damn sight more for the 1913 V-Nickel than the twenty grand Mr. Pitterman received for it. You probably couldn't afford that nickel when it came available, but you had to have it because you're an avaricious man, and unless Spinoza was off base, avarice is a species of madness, and not an endangered one, either.
"You bought the nickel, shelled out for it at a time when you were trying to raise cash to meet your other obligations. Then you took your dog to be bred-another damned expense, although it would pay off when Astrid had her pups-and you rushed back to New York rather than stay overnight in Pe
"It hardly matters. The two of you walked into your house to find the unmistakable evidence of a burglary. Maybe you'd been pla
"And maybe your wife made some smartass remark right about then, and maybe it was the last straw. Or did it just remind you that one of the few things remaining in your wall safe was an insurance policy on both your lives? If either of you died, the other collected half a million dollars. And there's a double indemnity clause for accidental death, and the companies consider murder an accident, although it's generally undertaken on purpose, which is a contradiction, don't you think? Maybe the first time you hit her was out of rage, and then the possibility of gain suggested itself to you. Maybe you took one look at the looted rooms of your house and saw instantly that the burglary would make a good smoke screen for murder. We probably won't know the answer to that one until you confess, and you probably will confess, Mr. Colca