Party Crashers

make arrangements for Mr. Hagan."
    "That's right."
    Salyers' face looked grave. "Well, this is opportune—I have news."
    "What?"
    "The woman found in Mr. Hagan's car has been identified."
    Jolie glanced at the closed doors, her heart welling for the unknown family. "Who...who is she?"
    "Janet Chisolm LeMon, wife of Roger LeMon."
    Jolie gasped and covered her mouth.
    "The man didn't know his own wife was missing?" Carlotta asked.
    "According to Mr. LeMon, his wife was supposed to be on a spiritual retreat in upstate New York. She wasn't allowed to contact anyone and no one was allowed to contact her."
    Jolie scoffed. "Who loses track of their spouse for a month?"
    "Two of Mrs. LeMon's friends confirmed his story, and I have to say that he seems pretty tom up about her death."
    "If he didn't know she was missing, how was she identified?"
    "Her suitcase and purse were pulled out of three feet of mud at the bottom of the river. Ms. Goodman, you should know that Mr. LeMon has admitted that his wife was having an affair with Mr. Hagan."
    Jolie gaped. "He told me he didn't even know Gary."
    "He said he lied for his wife's sake because she had ended the affair."
    "But doesn't that give him a motive for killing Gary?" Carlotta said.
    Salyers crossed her arms. "Actually, Mr. LeMon seems to think that Mr. Hagan killed Mrs. LeMon because she ended the affair, then you, Ms. Goodman, killed Mr. Hagan in a jealous rage."
    Jolie fumed, shaking her head. "That's insane."
    "But it would explain your preoccupation with Mr. LeMon."
    "I'm not preoccupied with Roger LeMon! Don't you think it's strange that his name keeps popping up in the investigation?"
    "So does yours, Ms. Goodman."
    Jolie frowned. "How did she die?"
    "Gunshot. The weapon was also pulled from the mud, registered to Mr. Hagan."
    Jolie was still digesting that troubling detail when the door to Ward I opened and Roger LeMon came staggering out, wiping his eyes. He immediately zeroed in on Jolie, pointing at her. "What's she doing here?"
    "Ms. Goodman is here on a personal matter," Salyers said in a calming voice.
    "Seeing about that killer boyfriend of yours?" he shouted. "You ought to see what he did to my wife!"
    Jolie shrank back while Salyers put her hand on his arm.
    "I should thank you for killing Gary Hagan! You saved me from killing the bastard myself!"
    "That's enough, Mr. LeMon," Salyers said. "Come on, I'll walk you to your car."
    She gave Jolie a look that said to stay put until they were out of sight, then she led him to the elevator.
    "He seems upset all right," Carlotta murmured as the elevator door closed. "But is he upset about his wife being dead, or about her being identified?"
    Jolie bit into her lip. "Good question. The thing is, for all I know, Gary could have had an affair with Janet LeMon."
    "Did he ever talk about his old girlfriends?"
    "No, although he did refer to one simply as a fatal attraction, and I found a card in his things that looked as if it might have come from someone...clingy."
    "Do you still have the card and the envelope?"
    "The police do."
    "Then they should be able to do DNA tests to see if Janet LeMon was his fatal attraction."
    "Even if she was, that doesn't mean that Gary killed her."
    "True."
    Jolie mulled over the new information as they walked past Licker and Chewer.
    "Talk about a bad day," Chewer said. "The man lost his best friend, then his wife ."
    "Death comes in threes," Licker said emphatically.
    "Excuse me," Jolie said leaning over. "Did you say that Roger LeMon had also lost his best friend?"
    Licker nodded and flipped through a stack of papers. "Here it is—killed in a car accident in Vegas just this morning. The body should be here any time now. Name was Coffee. Kyle Coffee."

Chapter Twenty-two

    JOLIE WAS A BONA FIDE BASKET CASE on the drive home. She'd done her best to keep her panic at bay around Carlotta, but after they'd picked at a salad and she'd dropped her friend at her townhouse, Jolie had yielded to the shakes. Her mind ran in circles, shifting bits and pieces of the puzzle around to see if one detail would fall unexpectedly in place next to another. Only she kept coming up with the same scenario: Gary had killed Janet LeMon, and Roger LeMon had killed Gary in retaliation. It was a classic lovers' triangle, except LeMon was trying to position her as the third party.
    The news of Coffee's death had shaken her. A car accident seemed too pat, too coincidental. Coffee was a loose cannon whose range was