The Merchant of Menace

neighbors, you know.”
    Jane shook her head. “You helped the other people with the crew take the equipment outside to set up.”
    Ginger didn’t seem the least alarmed by this semi-accusation. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. But I was with all the guys the whole time. Say, you don’t really think—“
    “No, I don’t think you killed him. Although how you resisted the urge is beyond me. I’m just thinking out loud.”
    Ginger was sitting where she could see the driveway. “Oh, a little red MG just drove in. Neat car.“
    “That’s Detective VanDyne. And I’d be grateful if you’d let him in while I pull myself together.”
    Jane raced upstairs to dress and fling a comb through her hair. She could hear the shower running in the kids’ bathroom and a quick peek in their rooms revealed that they were all still asleep so it must be Addie. It was another overcast day and her bedroom looked dreary. She opened the curtains to let what little sun there was come in and stared for a moment at the Johnsons’ house next door. The ladder was still in place at the back and there were two men in the backyard. They drifted in and out of view and she couldn’t tell what they were doing, but suspected they might be trying to fingerprint the ladder. She couldn’t see the roof itself from her angle.
    When she got downstairs again, Shelley was there and Mel appeared to be dismissing Ginger, who didn’t want to be dismissed.
    “Look, you’re a witness and acquainted with the dead man,“ he explained. “As such, I need to know your movements and impressions. But you’re also a reporter and you don’t have any right to listen in on other people’s reports. You should know the system. We’ll tell you all we can without jeopardizing our investigation.“
    “Okay, okay,“ Ginger said grudgingly. “But it doesn’t hurt to try, does it?”
    She gathered up her coat, set her coffee cup in the sink, and left.
    “What an irritating woman,“ Mel groused. “Oh? I sort of like her,“ Jane said.
    “Do you think she’s truthful?“
    “I don’t know her well enough to guess. What were you asking her about?“
    “Her movements and Lance King’s work habits.“
    “Hard to think of what he did as work,“ Shelley put in. “What did she say?”
    Mel got up and poured himself some coffee. “She says he was very secretive about what he was investigating. She now remembers that he kept all his notes on computer disks, never put anything on the hard drive at his office or on his laptop. I wish she’d remembered that sooner. There were no documents on the laptop. Only his bookkeeping and some games.“
    “Games?“ Jane asked. “He’s the last person in the world I’d have expected to play any kind of games.”
    Mel ignored this observation. “I have a man checking his office computer, but it sounds like he’s going to come up empty, too, if Ginger’s right. She says he always kept his current disk on his person, but he didn’t have it when he was found in the Johnsons’ front yard.“
    “Somebody stole it?“ Jane asked.
    “Maybe,“ Mel said. “Or forced him to hand it over before pushing him off the roof.“
    “So whatever he was threatening to reveal about somebody is gone,“ Jane said. “I can’t say I’m exactly sorry to hear that.”
    Shelley said, “But that means it’s in someone else’s hands. Someone who is capable of killing another person. Maybe somebody who’s unethical enough to use the information King had on other people.”

Eleven

    “Jane, get a large sheet of paper, would you?“ Mel asked. “I need you and Shelley to map out this block.”
    The only big sheet of paper Jane could find was the back of a piece of Christmas wrapping. “So you want a box for each house?“ she asked, already sketching out squares.
    “Number them, if you can,“ Mel said. “Ooh,“ Shelley said. “We’re doing police work on Santa wrapping.”
    Mel glared at her. “Not exactly,“ he said. “Just helping me get my bearings.”
    Jane had completed her boxes. “Mel, this one’s vacant. The owners were transferred to Seattle before it sold.“ She put an X in the box and glanced at him.
    He just nodded, still cranky about Shelley’s remark.
    Jane went on. “There are three older couples who couldn’t come because they were going to be out of town visiting their children and grandchildren over the holidays.“
    “You’re sure they were actually gone?“ Mel asked.
    “No, maybe not, but