Eclipse Bay

have anything solid to go on yet,” Rafe said. “But it looks like the blackmail material might have had something to do with someone’s sex life.”
    “It often does.” Virgil paused. “But in this day and age, it would have to be a particularly interesting sex life to be worth blackmail payments or murder.”
    “That’s why we came to you,” Rafe said. “Know any men in town who like to wear ladies’ underwear?”
    “At least half a dozen names come to mind,” Virgil said without missing a beat. “If that’s all you’ve got, you’ll be at this investigation for a very long time.”
    “You’re kidding,” Hannah said. “You know half a dozen men in Eclipse Bay who have a penchant for female underwear?”
    “The fetish for women’s undergarments is not all that rare or unusual.” Virgil adopted a professional tone as he warmed to his lecture. “It is generally considered a harmless quirk, as these things go. Indeed, the history of prominent men dressing in lingerie goes back for centuries. There have been kings, generals, presidents, statesmen—”
    “But of the six men here in Eclipse Bay who like to wear lingerie which one would be seriously horrified if the news got around?” Rafe asked before Virgil could get sidetracked by his professional interest.
    “I imagine that they would all be embarrassed, to varying degrees.”
    Hannah looked at him. “Think any of them would be so humiliated that he would pay blackmail or kill to keep the secret?”
    Virgil stroked his goatee while he pondered that. In the end, he shook his head decisively. “Frankly, I don’t see any of them in the role of murderer. But one never knows, does one?”
    “Six men,” Rafe repeated.
    “Those are just the ones who come to mind immediately because I have had some contact with them over the years,” Virgil said. “There are no doubt several others who don’t shop at my store.”
    Hannah sighed. “It’s hopeless. Sounds like we can’t even get a complete list, let alone verify the whereabouts of all the men on it for the night Kaitlin died.”
    “You don’t need to find all of them,” Virgil pointed out. “Just the ones who knew Kaitlin intimately.”
    “From what I’ve heard, that would still be a mighty long list.” Hannah shot Rafe a dark glare.
    “Don’t look at me,” Rafe said calmly. “I prefer lingerie on ladies.”
    “And he is the only suspect who had an ironclad alibi that night,” Virgil reminded her. “Thanks to you.”
    “I know.” Hannah scowled. “Still, there must be some way to narrow the list.”
    “For starters, I imagine that you can eliminate any man who wasn’t reasonably affluent at the time,” Virgil said. “After all, no point blackmailing someone who can’t afford to pay.”
    Rafe was intrigued. “You’re right. That might cut the list down a little.”
    Hannah frowned. “If he was rich enough to pay blackmail, chances are he would have been wealthy enough to be invited to the political reception up at the institute that night. But if he was there, he’s also got a solid alibi.”
    “I’m not so sure about that,” Rafe said slowly. “The institute was crowded that evening. Everyone who was anyone in Eclipse Bay was there. Someone could have slipped away long enough to murder Kaitlin and then returned to the reception with no one the wiser.”
    “I don’t see how you could possibly ascertain that information,” Virgil said quietly.
    Rafe glanced at Hannah. He knew they were both thinking the same thing.
    “There just may be a way to do that,” he told Virgil.
    “Indeed?” Virgil looked intrigued. “Fascinating. You do understand that under normal circumstances I would not even consider providing you with this list. But given what you say may have been an attempt on your life, Ms. Harte, I will try to help. There is just one thing I would like for you both to keep in mind.”
    “What’s that?” Rafe asked.
    “When it comes to blackmail,” Virgil said very seriously, “there are sometimes others besides the victim who have a motive to kill the blackmailer.”
    Hannah’s brows snapped together. “Such as?”
    “Such as anyone who has a great deal invested in the victim,” Virgil said.
    Rafe looked at him. “Hell, do you think maybe we should be looking at all the wives of these guys you know who like to run around in lacy unmentionables?”
    “Never forget the old saying about the female of the species being just as deadly as the