“Now, I must hear what happened. The papers gave only the sketchiest accounts. What happened to Niels’s boat?”

“There was an accident in the galley and the hull caught fire.” This was the answer I had given to the police and to Murray Ryerson and I wasn’t going to change it now.

Mrs. Grafalk shook her head vigorously. “No, my dear. That won’t do. Gordon Firth, the chairman of Ajax, came to visit me two days ago with a most extraordinary story about Niels. He had a young Englishman with him, Roger Ferrant. Mr. Ferrant says you and he discovered that Niels was running Grafalk Steamship at a loss and had cause to suspect him of blowing up Martin’s ship.”

I put the champagne glass down.

“And what do you want me to tell you?”

She looked at me sharply. “The truth. I still have to deal with this matter. I am still Niels’s chief heir; I shall have to dispose of the remaining assets of Grafalk Steamship somehow. Martin Bledsoe would be the ideal person to take over the company. He and I—were good friends a number of years ago and I still have a special spot for him. But I must know the whole story before I talk to him or to my lawyers.”

“I don’t have any proof—just a chain of suggestions. Surely you don’t want to hear a lot of unsubstantiated allegations. The police or the FBI or the Coast Guard may find proof of wrongdoing. But they may well not. Wouldn’t you prefer to let the dead bury the dead?”

“Miss Warshawski. I am going to tell you something that no one besides Karen knows. I expect you to respect my privacy—but if you don’t, it doesn’t matter that much. Niels and I have lived as two neighbors for over a decade.” She fluttered small, ring-covered hands. “We gradually grew apart. It happens that way, you know. Then he became more and more obsessed by Grafalk Steamship. He couldn’t think about anything else. He was bitterly disappointed that our son wasn’t interested in the steamship company: Peter is a cellist. Our daughter is a thoracic surgeon. When it became clear that no one of his name lived to care about Grafalk Steamship, Niels removed himself emotionally from the house.

“I have paid little attention to Niels in the last several years. Nevertheless, it became quite clear to me that he was growing more and more erratic over the past eight or nine months. I invited you up here for lunch because you struck me as clever and intelligent the day we talked. I think you can tell me what Niels was doing. You were not a social acquaintance of my husband’s. I don’t believe you were his mistress—”

She paused to look at me sharply. I couldn’t help laughing, but I shook my head.