Smoke in Mirrors

listening to every word, “I’d say the murders were the least of his concerns. It was his fear of having the truth about the algorithm come out that drove him over the edge tonight.”

    “How’s Elissa doing?”
    He glanced at her with concern. She stood quietly, her arms folded tightly around her midsection. In the glow of the screen he could see tears glistening on her face.
    “It’s been a tough night,” Ed said. “But she’s holding up okay. She’s a strong lady.” Elissa gave him a faint, brave little smile. “I’ve got to go, Walker. In addition to dealing with Rhodes’s murder, I’ve got to get a search organized to find Kern. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    He ended the call.
    Elissa walked toward him. “Thank you for being so kind tonight, Ed. I don’t think I would have been able to deal with all of this if it hadn’t been for you.”
    He put his arms around her and held her close for as long as he dared. About sixty seconds.
    Reluctantly he released her. He pressed her hand and picked up his hat.
    “Work to do,” he said.
    “I understand. Do what you have to do.” She stepped away from him, her eyes full of admiration. “You have your responsibilities to fulfill, and I know you take your duties seriously. It’s part of what makes you such a fine man, Ed.”
    He realized he was blushing. Grateful for the low light in the study, he turned quickly away and strode toward the door.
    Not every woman understood the demands of his job. Elissa would make a first-rate cop’s wife, he thought. But he couldn’t allow himself to dwell on the possibilities the future held until he had found her father’s body and answered all the outstanding questions.
    First things first. That was how you got the job done.

Chapter Nineteen
    She went home with Thomas. He acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do but that wasn’t what made her uneasy. What worried her was that it did feel natural. Wrench apparently agreed with the consensus of opinion. He was waiting at the door with a rubber ball that squeaked when he squeezed it.
    It was all very comfortable. Maybe too comfortable, she thought. Of course, she could have pointed out to Thomas that, with Alex dead and with Osmond Kern missing and presumed drowned, there was no longer any danger and therefore no logical excuse for spending the night together. But she said nothing.
    The truth was, there was no place she would rather have been. Not tonight. She went into Thomas’s arms with a glorious sense of rightness. He held her close and made love to her with a thoroughness that left her exhausted and satisfied. She had expected to battle a badcase of insomnia, given the excitement of the night. Instead, she sank into a dreamless sleep.
    The next morning the three of them took the footpath into town to get coffee and tea and the latest gossip. The clouds hung low enough to cut off the tops of the trees and the air was cold. The early morning herd of runners and joggers stampeded past as they strolled in the slow lane.
    She and Thomas went over the details of the murders and speculated on how long it would take for the authorities to find Osmond Kern’s body. They discussed some of the loose threads that still dangled and wondered if they would ever get all of the answers. Probably not, Leonora thought.
    “I wonder how much Meredith really knew and what she planned to do with the information,” Thomas said. He had one hand in the pocket of his jacket. He held Wrench’s leash in the other.
    “My guess is, she knew enough to try to blackmail Kern. That’s the only way to explain her death.” Leonora watched Wrench investigate an empty latte cup. “But she obviously wasn’t careful about how she handled the matter.”
    “Blackmail is dangerous work.”
    “Yes, but she would have known that. I wonder why she didn’t do it anonymously.”
    “Maybe she did try to hide her identity. She went down to California, remember? But Kern must have figured out that she was the one behind the extortion.”
    “I still don’t see how Meredith could have figured it all out using just those clippings Bethany left behind.”
    Thomas glanced at her. “Don’t forget she had that affair with Alex Rhodes.”
    “Good point. Meredith, being Meredith, would have learned anything Alex Rhodes knew and he obviously knew about Kern.”

    They stopped at the coffeehouse, left Wrench attached to a bicycle stand and went inside to get some caffeine to