The bedroom was small but very sweet. Francie had painted it a soft blue that matched two curtains featuring red and brown birds. I placed the suitcase on a white luggage rack and stared at it. It was brown leather, definitely a few decades old. I wasn’t sure they made luggage like that anymore.
But something was bothering me about it. I looked at the blue walls and remembered the blue suitcase that an elderly man had pulled out of the water. What was his name? I doubted that the suitcase had any connection to Abby or Mia, but it was worth a phone call to him. Maybe he had found something interesting inside.
I stopped in Francie’s cozy dining room, where they were unpacking their breakfast. It also served as a home library. Francie and her husband had installed walls of bookshelves around the room.
“I met a guy at the river the other day and I’m trying to remember his name. I’m pretty sure the first name was Sam, but I can’t remember his last name.”
Eunice said, “The only Sam I know was a guy I worked with. We used to call him Sam Bambam.”
“Bamberger! That’s it. That’s the guy.”
“He’s a doll,” said Eunice. “Too bad I wasn’t with you. I’d like to see old Sam again.”
“Do you have his phone number?” I asked.
“Isn’t he a little bit old for you?” Eunice raised her eyebrows.
“He found a suitcase in the Potomac. Now I’m wondering what he found inside.”
They looked at me blankly. It took a minute to sink in.
“I wonder if any of Abby’s luggage is missing.” Eunice’s mouth pulled tight.
“Maybe Benton would be able to tell,” I said. “He must know what her luggage looks like. It probably has nothing to do with Abby, but we should check.”
“I’ll contact him right after we have breakfast.”
“Would you like to join us?” asked Francie. “We have plenty.”
My hand flew up to cover my mouth. “Mars! I was making him coffee. I forgot all about him.”
I flew out the door and over to my house.
Mars was in the kitchen drinking coffee. “Where have you been?”
I explained about Eunice while I popped a loaf of frozen bread into the oven and started frying eggs and cooking bacon.
Mars gazed out the window. “I wonder where Wesley and Stu were the night Mia died and Abby left.”
“Didn’t you keep track of Wesley’s schedule?”
“Whoever killed Charlene did it after eight o’clock at night. Wesley didn’t have an evening engagement that night. Think you could ask Tilly what he was doing? I’d like to know if he has an alibi.”
“Do you think they could have planned it together?” I asked. “Tilly made sure she had an alibi. She probably knew Abby was going out to dinner with you, giving Wesley time to sneak into Abby’s house and wait for her. I bet they planned an alibi for Wesley, too.”
“Better put on more eggs. Bernie and Nina are on their way over.”
I pulled out another frying pan and poured some oil in it to heat.
Mars opened the kitchen door for them. “Fried eggs okay with you guys?”
“I smell bacon.” Nina made a beeline for the kitchen island and poured two mugs of coffee.
“Are you ever coming home?” Bernie handed Mars a laptop computer.
“As soon as the press leaves.”
“They’re asking me if you murdered . . . let me get this straight, Why did Mars murder his former employer’s lover?”
“Now they think Wesley had an affair with Mia? That sounds awful. At least it wasn’t Mia I went out with. Why aren’t they pursuing her husband?” asked Mars. “Don’t answer that. I know how it works.” To Bernie and Nina, he said, “Wesley and Stu are trying to place blame on me.”
“Would they be wicked enough to make up evidence?” I slid eggs onto plates and Bernie carried them over to the table.
“What do you mean?” asked Mars.
“They could claim one of them saw you leaving Abby’s house late at night. Or tell Wolf that you confessed to them and that’s why you were fired,” I said.
Mars looked a little green.
I removed the bread from the oven, and Nina took a deep breath. “There’s just nothing better than bread!” she said. “Except maybe bread that’s still warm from the oven.” She found a serrated knife and a bread board while I retrieved butter, apple butter, and blackberry jam from the fridge.
When we sat down to eat, I noticed that Bernie had a pad of paper and a pen. “What’s that about?”
“Mars always tells us that we have to stick to the facts.”
Nina picked up a slice of bread and slathered it with apple butter. “Well, I think Abby is dead.”
“That is not a fact,” pointed out Bernie.
“It sort of is. No cat lover would have abandoned her cat like that. The cat dishes were gone. The carrier was in the middle of the living room, which indicates to me that she was planning to take him with her. But she didn’t, ergo, Abby is deceased.”
“That’s quite a theory,” said Bernie. “But as you may recall, I have three cats and the mere appearance of the cat carrier is sufficient to cause all three of them to vanish instantly. How do you know that her cat didn’t hide from her?”
Nina flashed him an annoyed look and chomped down on the piece of crusty bread.
“Who else besides Mars is a suspect?” Bernie ate a bite of egg.
Mars hid behind his coffee mug and looked upset. “Wesley and Stu Jericho.”
“Motive?” asked Bernie.
“Unknown. But they’re hiding something, or they wouldn’t have fired me.”
“Abby?” I suggested. “We don’t know much about her relationship with Mia, but maybe they had an argument?”
“Considering that Abby disappeared, I suppose we have to add her to the list,” Bernie said.
“What now?” asked Mars. “How do we prove any of this? I have suggested that Sophie spy on Wesley and Jericho.”
“Isn’t it funny that they want me to get information from Wolf?” I asked.
Nina laughed. “You’re a double agent! Will you provide them with misinformation?”
“Ha ha. So not funny. I am not Benton Bergeron.”
“Benton!” Bernie scribbled his name on the list. “Of course, he’s a suspect. I forgot all about him. Is he a spy?”
I told them about his odd behavior of picking up a soda can out of the trash.
Bernie’s eyes grew. “You’re serious, then. He really is a spy.”
“No way,” Mars grumbled. “Soph, if he were a spy, you never would have seen him do that.”
“But what if Sophie is right? A spy would know how to kill someone,” said Nina. “Aren’t they trained to do that? Like in the movies?”
We gazed at one another. Clearly, we didn’t know.
“In any event, we need to keep an eye on Benton.” Bernie placed a star by his name.
My door knocker sounded at that moment. I jumped up and went to the door but noted that Daisy didn’t bark. When I opened it, Duke barged inside, followed by Eunice, Francie, and Sam Bamberger, who carried the blue suitcase he had caught.