Silence Of The Hams

have physical evidence to support the theory or they wouldn’t have arrested Conrad. Maybe both his and Emma’s fingerprints were on the clipping in spite of it having been mauled around. And there was the paper dot from the folders.”
    She explained briefly to Patsy about the little paper lozenges. “When he showed me one, I knew I’d seen such a thing before. I think—yes, I have it here.“ She had put the blue dot back in her jeans pocket and now placed it on the kitchen table.
    Patsy stared at it for a minute. “Hmm. Looks familiar in a way—“
    “You and I saw a green one. At the same time.”
    Patsy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them very wide. “Stuck in the treads in the bottom of Conrad’s sneaker when I ran into you here! I thought it was an odd-colored piece of grass.”

    “The deep treads in his sneakers picked it up from the carpet in her apartment.”
    “So he met her Friday night—?“
    “I think he not only met her,“ Jane said, “I think she made the poor guy jog around the block with her while she laid out her threats. Remember, Conrad had his shoe off because he had a blister on his heel. They were old sneakers. He wouldn’t get a blister from any normal activity. It would have really added insult to injury to make him trot alongside her like a pet dog.“
    “And he went to her apartment Saturday to kill her?“
    “I don’t know. Maybe she’d told him to bring money and he went to do that, but saw the other folders and realized she was making several other people’s lives a misery and simply lost control.“
    “He didn’t take a weapon along,“ Shelley said. “She was killed with one of those hand weights from her own apartment.“
    “Did he take the rest of the folders?“ Patsy asked, then said, “He must have. But if he did, where are they?”
    Jane shrugged. “Maybe the police found them. Maybe they’re still in his car. If it had been me, I’d have gone by the nearest fast food restaurant and pitched them in the Dumpster or a trash barrel.”
    Shelley got up and started clearing the table.
    “To think—he did it all out of love for Sarah,“ Patsy said.
    “No, he didn’t,“ Grace said from the doorway.
    They hadn’t heard her approach.
    “I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping,“ she said. “Just standing there for a minute working up the courage and energy to face you all.”
    Jane pulled out a chair and gestured for Grace to sit down. She did so wearily. She looked like a soldier returning from a long, exhausting battle—but a victorious one. “Don’t waste your good thoughts on Conrad,“ she said finally.
    “You don’t have to tell us anything, Grace, but we’re here to listen if you’d like to talk,“ Patsy said.
    Grace smiled. “I know you are. Conrad didn’t kill that woman out of love of Sarah. Out of need for control, revenge, money—but not love. The police only questioned us for a short time this afternoon and told us they’d be back tomorrow morning. The rest of the time you dear ladies were doing our jobs, Sarah and I were sitting in the car talking. We got years’ worth of talk into a few hours. Or at least Sarah did. Shelley, could I ask you for one more—? Oh, thank you. You read my mind.”
    She took a long drink from the glass of iced tea Shelley had handed her, organized her thoughts for a moment, and said; “It’s terribly complex and I don’t know if I can sum it up, but Conrad blamed Sarah for the baby’s death. And why not? She blamed herself. He told her that it was only fitting that she should have to face him—the child’s father—every day of her life. She was so consumed by guilt that it seemed a fitting punishment to her. A way to atone, I guess. After she’d been out of the mental hospital for a while, he never mentioned it again. He was always terribly kind to her. Very protective. She had no friends, no life of her own, no part in any community, but she felt she had no right to complain. Every time they moved to a new place, he’d make all the more sure she was dependent on him. If she started making friends, rumors would start about her and people would turn away—often in disgust. She knew he was responsible, but could never absolutely prove it, not even to her own satisfaction.“
    “How horrible!“ Patsy whispered.
    “And then they came back here,“ Shelley said.
    Grace nodded. “Torturing her must have become a bit boring and he was attracted to the idea of having a business