A Groom wirh a View

of and she killed him. I’m not sure she even meant to, really. I can understand. She was so shocked, so embarrassed, and there was that knife we used to cut the ribbons on the presents and...”
    She dissolved in tears again. “And now neither of us can have him. I don’t know how I’ll live without him. I’d rather she’d have killed me.”
    If she expected sympathy, she was disappointed. There was an almost palpable air of disgust in the room.
    John Smith looked at Jane. “Would you mind finding Mr. Thatcher and asking him to come in here?”
    Jane did as she was asked. Jack Thatcher was still in the main room. “Mr. Thatcher, the police would like to speak to you.“
    “Well, it’s about time!“ he snarled.
    She followed him back to the side room. He started complaining the moment he passed through the doorway, but John Smith cut him off. “Mr. Thatcher, did your daughter and Dwayne Hessling have a prenuptial agreement?“
    “What? What difference does that make? Of course they did.“
    “Could I see it?“
    “Good God, man! I’m not carrying the damned thing around with me! It’s in the safe deposit box at my bank.“
    “No!“ Kitty exclaimed. “He’s lying. Dwayne told me he’d absolutely refused to sign anything.“
    Thatcher turned to her, looking as if he couldn’t quite remember who she was. “What on earth would you know about it?“ His voice dripped with contemptuous dismissal.
    Kitty reeled back as if he’d physically assaulted her.
    Mel stepped forward. “Mr. Thatcher, let’s go somewhere private and I’ll explain it all to you.”
    Somehow Mel managed to sweep Shelley and Jane out of the room as well and abandon them the moment the door closed behind them. Thatcher was bellowing that he had the right to know just what the hell was going on and Mel was speaking quietly and leading him up the stairs to the privacy of Thatcher’s remote bedroom.
    “Can this possibly be true?“ Jane said, still stunned.
    Shelley headed for the kitchen. “I need coffee. Badly.”
    They found the largest cups in the kitchen and filled them to take outside. It was getting dark and something nearby was blooming with a beautiful fragrance. Sitting down on the slight rise where the wedding pictures had been taken a few hours earlier, Shelley finally answered. “If it’s true, Kitty and Dwayne are the sleaziest people I’ve ever known.“
    “I think I find that easier to accept than you do,“ Jane admitted. “I haven’t liked Kitty since I set eyes on her. But until now, I didn’t have any reason to feel that way and felt sort of guilty about having such antipathy for someone I didn’t even know.“
    “I guess if Jack Thatcher can turn up with a prenup contract, that will prove she’s lying.“ Shelley blew across the top of her coffee, trying to get it cool enough to down a big, comforting slug of it.
    Jane thought for a moment. “No, not necessarily. It might only prove that Dwayne was lying to Kitty about not signing it.“
    “Could Dwayne have really and truly had the hots for Kitty?“ Shelley asked.
    “Sure. Remember Joselyn Wossername? That woman who lived down the block from us years ago?“
    “Only vaguely.“
    “She was downright unattractive,“ Jane reminded her. “Thin cranky lips, practically no eyebrows, dumpy figure, awful hair. But men were gaga about her.“
    “But she had a good personality, as I recall. Made them all feel like King of the Mountain. Kitty didn’t even have that going for her.“
    “Still, there’s no accounting for other people’s taste,“ Jane said. “If what she’s saying is true, they were both such sleazeballs that they’re way outside our range of understanding. The whole thing could have been a con job from the very beginning, just like Kitty said. They picked a sheltered, rich, mealymouthed victim who was being pressured to get married and if somebody hadn’t bumped Dwayne off, it might have worked.”
    Shelley nodded. “You could be right.“
    “Remember?“ Jane said. “We were wondering all along why Jack Thatcher was letting Livvy marry someone so gigolo-ish. Kitty and Dwayne knew they weren’t socially acceptable to the likes of the Thatchers. They had every reason to suspect Jack would give Dwayne a bundle to get lost.“
    “White trash who know they’re white trash and make the best use of it?”
    Jane took a sip of her coffee. “Something like that. Even we know that sometimes you get what you want by being