Clara was nearby. “I’m coming too, Regan.”.

Together they all ran down the hall. Smoke was everywhere. “He’s not in his office!” Regan yelled.

“Where is he?” Janey gasped.

Clara grabbed the master key from Thomas’s desk.

“I’m going to try Daphne’s door,” Regan said. They raced down the hall, calling Thomas’s and Daphne’s names. Regan banged on the door to Daphne’s apartment. “Give me the key,” she ordered Clara.

Clara handed it over, and Regan unlocked the door. “Daphne,” she called, turning on lights. Peering into the bedroom, she saw clothes all over the bed. Is she under that rumpled mass? Regan wondered. She flicked on the light, raced over, Clara at her heels, and picked a sweater off the heap. No Daphne.

“Oh my God!” Regan yelled.

“Oh, sweet Jesus!” Clara cried.

There were two sheep appliqués stuck to the right arm of Daphne’s sweater. “It was Daphne who killed Nat!” Regan said in horror.

Janey howled. “And she’s furious with Thomas!”

“Let’s go!” Regan said.

“I bet they’re out back!” Clara cried.

They ran into the hallway, which was thick with smoke, and hurried down the staircase and out the back door. Daphne had Thomas cornered. She had a huge knife in her hands.

“Daphne!” Regan yelled.

Daphne turned to Regan, her eyes filled with hate. “He ruined my career!”

“What about Nat?” Regan asked, feeling for Georgette’s gun in her jacket pocket.

“I was so good to him and Wendy. But after she died he only cared about his friends who played cards. I wanted him to be with me! But he said he could never be with another woman. Then he found somebody else. I know he did. And he had that big secret about the diamonds that he kept from me. I went crazy when I found out about that. He betrayed me!”

“Daphne, put down the knife,” Regan pleaded.

“No!”

Thomas was quivering in the corner.

“Put it down.”

After a moment, Daphne dropped the knife and started to cry, this time real tears. “I lost all my chances. Nat …my acting career …”

Thomas and Janey had yet another hug-filled reunion as Regan picked the knife off the ground. “Dad, could you hold this? I’ve got a phone call to make.”

Regan pulled out her cell phone and called Edward Gold’s home number. “Any chance you can get in here tonight with that certified check?” she asked him when he answered.

“What?” Thomas cried.

Regan held out her hand. The four diamonds were resting in her palm. Now it was Thomas’s turn to cry. “They were in Dolly and Bah-Bah’s eye sockets,” Regan explained. “It’s a good thing Janey brought them back.”

Thomas turned to Janey. “Will you marry me?”

Back inside, the smoke was clearing. Regan hurried to find Jack. He was in the kitchen with Harriet, who was now in handcuffs.