“May I help you?” she asked, glancing at us without a break in her typing.

We stepped closer, and I took off the glasses and the scarf.

“It’s me, Gwen,” I said softly. “Callie.”

Gwen stopped typing and stood, looking me over with a smile.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a chuckle. “Is that some sort of disguise?”

I handed the glasses to Harriet and walked toward the desk.

“Someone tried to kill me this morning.”

“What—”

“Listen to me, Gwen,” I continued. “I don’t have much time.”

“What’s going on, Callie? That nice Detective Keegan called here, looking for you. He said to let him know if you showed up.”

“I know. It’s a long story. Here’s the short version.”

“The police are looking for you?” Harriet squeaked, but I ignored her question.

“I’m an investigator, Gwen. Usually, I just investigate companies, but this time I’ve been investigating a murder. Wendell’s murder.”

“Oh, my.”

“I know there was no building, Gwen. I know Wendell’s story about needing a fast $250,000 from the J.O.S.H.U.A. fund had nothing to do with buying some property and everything to do with straightening out the financial mess that had been made with Feed the Need.”

Gwen seemed to pale, and she sat in her chair, nodding.

“Talk to me, Gwen,” I said. “Tell me what happened here that last day.”

I walked around her desk and sat on the edge of it, looking down on her. Though I felt a little ridiculous in the stuffed purple jacket, I knew she was intimidated nonetheless.

“I don’t know that much,” Gwen said, tears springing to her eyes, “but I certainly know more than I told the police. It’s been eating away at me, like a cancer.”

I glanced at Harriet, who had taken a seat against the far wall and was watching our interaction with rapt attention.

“Go ahead,” I said to Gwen, my voice more gentle this time.

“Oh, Callie, it was awful,” Gwen cried. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about at the beginning?”

She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out.

“It started about two months ago,” she said softly. “Because of his health, Wendell didn’t travel much any more, but he needed to go to our factory in Sri Lanka. He took Marion with him, and they planned to end their trip with a few days in Kauai. A little mini-vacation.”

“Okay.”

“They had a layover in Manila, where Feed the Need has a big district office. Since they had a few hours to spare, they decided to pay the office a quick visit. When they got there, they found that the office was closed down.”

I had already heard this story from Marion and had already seen the sign Wendell brought home from Manila with him.