She cleared her throat. “I, uh, think part of it’s in her little code, and then she just put the mother superior’s initials down because at the time she wrote it, she was really ticked at Sister Charity.”

“Then what does the other one mean?”

“I’m not as sure.” She’d written it down as well. TO BF 2 M&M. “But I’ve been working on it,” she admitted. And that was the truth. In the past few days, whenever she wasn’t busy working at the inn, or trying to figure out a reason why Camille had been killed, or looking over her shoulder, she’d been thinking about the puzzle, and remembering the items she’d found in the boxes in the attic, she’d mentally gone through the things that were her sister’s life. “I can’t get off the ‘best friend’ thing, and though ‘M and M’ could mean anyone, I think she was thinking about our parents—I mean our birth parents. Mike and Mary Brown.”

“Whom we’ve never found.”

“Maybe they didn’t exist. Maybe that’s what it’s all about.”

“So then who is ‘T O’?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure it’s Thelma O’Malley,” she said.

“Not Tom, as in the priest at St. Elsinore’s.”

“Uh-uh. I can’t think of anyone else, and Thelma was the widow who brought us to the orphanage and claimed our parents had died . . . but I can’t find her. I’ve looked for Thelma O’Malley, Mrs. Stanley O’Malley, S. O’Malley, and T. O’Malley. I’ve even called people with the same last name, but so far I’ve struck out.”

“Have you told the police?”

She shook her head. “No, because I’m not really sure. All I’ve got is a gut feeling and maybe some convoluted logic. The police have Camille’s diary.” Frustrated, the start of a headache niggling behind her eyes, she leaned back in the chair, pushing her shoulders against Slade’s chest. He straightened as she said, “I just wish I had a way to find Thelma.”

“If she’s still alive.”

“Yeah.” Her gaze landed on the flyer for the auction at St. Elsinore’s. “Maybe the answer is here,” she said, thumping a finger on the glossy picture of the orphanage. The flyer contained a list of some of the donated items, including a trip to Las Vegas. Also there was mention of some local celebrities who were planning to attend, including the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, the archbishop, and the radio psychologist Dr. Sam, to name a few.

“At the parish?”

“Uh-huh. Probably in the records the mother superior wouldn’t let me open,” she said, thinking of Sister Georgia, all warm and fuzzy on the outside but hard as granite under her friendly exterior. “I just have to find a way to get at them.”