Eye of the Beholder

normal."
    "Depends on your definition of normal, I guess." He shifted position slightly, trying to shake off the disturbing sensation that had settled between his shoulders. "Look, you're the one who insisted that I confide everything in you before I acted. You want to hear my new theory or not?"
    "It's not like I have a lot of choice here. Give it to me in easy sentences."
    "I don't have a lot to go on at the moment—"
    "You can say that again."
    "Just a hunch."
    She wrinkled her nose. "Just a hunch, huh?"
    "The kind of hunch I get when I'm in danger of getting screwed in a business negotiation," he said deliberately. "The kind I got just before I found out my wife was going to run off with another man."
    She raised a brow. "The kind that brought you charging into Lloyd's house that night twelve years ago?"
    He met her eyes. "Yeah. That kind of hunch."
    She sighed. "Okay, tell me how Guthrie's death could possibly be connected to your father's death?"
    She sounded much too reasonable now. Probably trying to humor him, Trask thought.
    "I'm not sure yet," he admitted.
    "Why now? If someone wanted Guthrie dead, why wait until you returned to Avalon?"
    He shrugged. "The obvious reason that springs to mind is so that if anyone got suspicious the finger of blame would point my way."
    "You're saying that someone tried to set you up?"
    The doubt in her voice bothered him. He realized that it was very important that she be convinced of his new theory. Somewhere along the line she had become both partner and ally in this thing.
    "Think about it. Folks around here have known for several months that I'd be coming back to Avalon to officially open the resort," he said. "If someone wanted to get rid of Guthrie, it would have paid to wait until I was in the vicinity."
    Her brows came together in a grim, skeptical line. "It's awfully far-fetched."
    "I know there are a lot of questions to be answered. All I'm saying is that I think there may be a connection."
    "Such as?"
    "All along I've had a feeling that my father's death was related to his business dealings. If I'm right, then it stands to reason that Guthrie's death might also be linked to his financial affairs."
    She gave him an incredulous look. " Twelve-year-old financial affairs? You're seriously suggesting that someone waited all this time to kill him because of a business deal that went bad more than a decade ago?"
    "No, of course not. I'm talking about his current financial situation."
    "What are you saying?" She spread her hands. "That it may have been a crime of opportunity? That someone just happened to want to get rid of Guthrie and decided to do it while you were in town?"
    "That pretty much sums up my current working hypothesis, yeah. You've got to admit that if I hadn't had a solid alibi last night, I'd have made a handy distraction for the cops in case they started asking questions."
    "Only if the investigation didn't conclude that Guthrie's death was the result of his own drunk driving."
    "No killer, no matter how careful, can be absolutely certain that some evidence won't survive," he said evenly. "Makes sense to have a fallback plan if you can. I was handy. Why not use me?"
    "Let's try for some logic here, Trask. If someone planned to murder Guthrie and pin the crime on you, he would have made certain that you didn't have an alibi for last night."
    He met her eyes. "Maybe he figured that the fact that I was with you, assuming that he knew where I was, wouldn't be viewed in court as a really strong alibi."
    "What's that supposed to mean?" Alexa scowled. "That he thinks I'm such a slave-to-passion that I'd lie under oath for you?"
    He did not want to test that particular theory, he thought glumly. "There's another possibility."
    "What?"
    "A jury could probably be convinced that I used you to give myself an alibi. You've seen enough films to know that there are ways of tampering with cars to make them unsafe. The killer doesn't have to be anywhere near the scene of the crime."
    "But even if someone did mess with his car, what are the odds that it would have gone off the road right at Avalon Point?"
    "Not that bad, when you think about it. If Guthrie got drunk, got into a car that had been sabotaged, and took
Cliff Drive
    home, Avalon Point is as likely a place as any to go over the edge. It's the sharpest, steepest curve on that stretch of road."
    Alexa pounced. "Exactly. And Guthrie had been drinking. He wasn't in any condition to give that curve his full