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?“If Randall cheated on her, like he did you, that could have motivated her,” I decided.
?Her face shifted. All at once, the stern persona seemed to melt away before my eyes. She fell into her chair suddenly.
?“What is it?” I worried.
?She stared at me with a wild look in her eyes. “Mark, what’s wrong with me?”
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p; ?I got down on my knees in front of her and took her hands in mine. “You? Why nothing! What are you talking about?”
?“How could I marry such a man?” Sheryl lamented and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “And not see how he was? I’m a failure.”
?I held her hands up in front of her. “You are not!”
?“Look at me,” she said and raised her head to face me. “I want to cry and scream, but I can’t. My emotions just blank out.”
?“You’ve been through a very tough few days…”
?“If I’m a great observer, like Holmes, why didn’t I see that he was unfaithful? Or that he never loved me?”
?“Holmes said in Hound Of The Baskervilles: ‘Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him.’”
?“Actually, it was Victor Hatherly who said that—”
?“The point is, I’d like to believe that we always give those we love the benefit of the doubt.”
?Sheryl thought about it for a moment. “Randall could be so charming. But it was more like we were roommates. We had no joint accounts, no combined finances—”
?“Maybe that’s a good thing. If you had shared accounts, the killer might be after you,” I cajoled. “Which begs the question: how did the killer find out about these secret accounts?”
?Sheryl frowned. “I see your point.”
?I released her hand and let it relax into her lap. “You were his wife and you didn’t know. I doubt he’d have told Candy, who was basically the ‘Flavor of the Month.’”
?Sheryl stood still for a moment and stared at a spot on the wall just above my head.
?“You’re right.” She quickly pulled out her pad. “While not being brilliant yourself, Watson, you inspire brilliance in others.”
?“Now that’s a Holmes quote,” I said. “The second part is: ‘It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.’”
?“Good show, Watkins,” she effused. “And you are inspiring me, much like Watson did Holmes.”
?“How?”
?“You have hit the point of the matter. We must conclude that it was the killer who knew of Randall’s accounts and brought Candy in with the promise of a large payout.”
?I stood. “So, who would have the ability to find accounts that Randall guarded so zealously?”
?“It is possible that one or both of his partners could have stumbled across bookkeeping inaccuracies,” she said. “As well as have access to the computer Randall used at work.”
?“That does point to Jon Kane again. Why do you suppose he was trying to break into my apartment last night?”
?“Logically, it can only be one of two conclusions. He either went there to leave something—”
?“Incriminating evidence, like the killer has done to us so far—”
?“Yes, or to find something.”
