“You and Sam worked for the CIA.” I said it straight to her face.
“We’ve been retired for decades. And we weren’t in the clandestine service.” She was silent for a moment. “Most of the time, anyway. I was young when I applied as a secretary. It was all very exciting.”
“Then you think Benton is an inept spy. What was with the chalk? Why did he do that?”
“You leave a chalk mark on something so the other person knows you’ve left a message in the hiding place. Chalk washes off quickly and easily. Sometimes two marks have a special meaning. I’m glad you told us about this. Now I understand the divorce. Those long absences can put a real strain on a marriage.”
“What if Abby learned something she shouldn’t have known?” I speculated. “We have to tell Wolf. Maybe Benton killed Abby to save his job or to stop her from revealing information that she might have learned.”
“Wolf might already know. It depends on what Benton’s cover is and whether he’s an operations officer.”
“What do you mean?” asked Francie.
“Some employees can admit that they work for the CIA. There are a lot of accountants, and human resource employees, just like in other big companies. But if he’s an operations officer, what you think of as a spy, then he’ll have a very good cover and even the police may not realize who he really is. Poor Abby. I hope she’s hiding somewhere, but as the days go by, I fear the worst.”
Francie snorted. “If the murderer meant to kill Abby, why didn’t he put her in the freezer, too?”
“Not enough room?” suggested Eunice.
“Eunice,” I said, “something bad happened in Abby’s past. Benton sidestepped me when I asked about it, but he said it left scars. Did she ever tell you about an incident?”
“Maybe she was a spy, too?” Eunice smiled. “Francie, we really must invite Benton for tea and a suitcase examination. Perhaps Wolf could come as well.”
“I think you’d better invite Wolf for your own safety if you do that. And me too.” I stretched. “I’m off to finish up these recipes for Tilly.”
“Did you ever unravel her code?” asked Eunice.
“It irritates me every time I see a recipe with the code on it. If we ever find Abby, that’s the first thing I’m going to ask her about.”
I left Francie’s house through the back door. When my garage was built, we had installed a gate in the fence between our houses. I used it now to go home.
I let myself in and Mars bolted into the kitchen. “Oh, it’s you.”
“And I’m pleased to see you, too. What’s going on?”
Mars yawned. “The Internet is a scary thing. I finally got onto the dark web. There’s a lot of creepy stuff on there.”
“You think Wesley is involved in the dark web?”
“I don’t know yet. Did you know the dark web was started by mathematicians that worked for the government? That sounds so innocent, doesn’t it?”
“Mars, what did you and Abby talk about on your date the night she vanished?”
Mars sat down at the kitchen table with me. “Just stuff. She talked about Benton a lot. You know how people are when a divorce is still fresh. Their lives were tied up with their spouses for so long that that’s all they talk about.”
“Did she say the kind of things I would say about you? Or that she feared him? Or that he grows orchids?”
“Regular stuff. I don’t think she was over him.”
“Then she wasn’t afraid of him.”
Mars stared at me. “She was jumpy. We ate at The Laughing Hound and, unlike you, she absolutely definitely did not want dessert.”
I couldn’t help smirking. “Your waitress said that’s the sign of a bad date.”
“She’s probably right. Neither of us tried to escape through the back deck or anything, but she was distant.”
“That was your second date. How did the first one go?”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy?”
“No! I’m trying to figure out what was going on with Abby.”
“We met for coffee. No big thing. No pressure. It was okay or I wouldn’t have asked her to dinner.”
“So she was jumpy. Did you ask her if something was wrong?”
He was getting irritated with me. “No, I didn’t ask her. I, uh . . . if you must know, I thought she didn’t like me.”
“Maybe that’s why she didn’t ask you in for coffee when you walked her home. Do you think the killer was already there?”
“If he was, I did not see or hear him. Abby unlocked the front door, thanked me for dinner, and that was it. I went home. You’re worse than Wolf. I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
“Abby was agitated at Tilly’s house that day. And then she was jumpy at dinner. So obviously something was wrong.”
“And that would be why she left. This is nothing new, Soph.”
“I wish she had told someone about it.”
“Maybe she shared it with Charlene.”
I shot him a dirty look. “Someone who is conscious.”
“What would you do if you were afraid?”
That was an interesting approach. “I guess I probably wouldn’t leave unless I thought my life was in danger. I wonder why she went out to dinner with you.”
“Thank you so much. You flatter me so. Because I’m a charming and interesting guy.”
“Uh-huh. I meant, if she was so scared that she felt the need to flee, then why did she waste time going out to dinner with you?”
“More flattery. I can hardly take it.”
“Be serious. She must have thought she was safe with you in a public place. But when she got home, or maybe during dinner, she decided to flee. Or did she know she would have to murder Mia? That would make me very nervous.”
“Great. You think I was supposed to be her alibi?”
“I wish she had left us a message. Are you sure she wasn’t trying to tell you something during dinner? You can be kind of obtuse.”
“I beg your pardon? I was gracious and gentlemanly.”
“You’re sure she didn’t write something on a napkin and shove it across the table to you?”
“I think even one as obtuse as me would notice that.”
“Did you check your pockets?”
“Yes! I do that after every date in the hope that my companion left a love letter. Sophie! You’re throwing around wild and crazy ideas.”
“I’ll be right back.” I hurried to my office and fetched the recipes. On my return to the kitchen, Mars was peering in the refrigerator.
“Is there anything in here that I can heat up? I haven’t had lunch.”
“Neither have I. There’s some sliced turkey from the deli.”
“Perfect.” Mars picked up a bottle. “Sparkling apple cider. Is this alcoholic?”
“No.”
“Great,” he said. “I have a lot more work to do. What are you looking for?”
“Maybe Abby did leave a message, but I haven’t been smart enough to figure it out. Eunice said the codes on the recipes look like the kind where two people use the same book to decipher them.”