“I expect so. I’ll call Claudia first to make sure she wants me there. If she’s angry about us knowing who she really is she might want . . . Hang on, this is her trying to get through to me. Tell Dan I’ll call him back,” and switching lines, she said, “Hi, Claudia. How are you?”

For a time there was only silence at the other end until Claudia finally said, “The fire wasn’t an accident. It was arson and my husband was behind it. If you know who I really am, then you’ll be aware of who he is.”

“Yes,” Andee responded softly.

“He’ll deny being involved, but if you can . . . The police should speak to his sister.”

“I believe someone is already doing that.”

“Good, but it won’t be easy to pin anything on her. They need to find the person who actually did it. He or she should be able to provide the link.”

“Do you have any idea who it might have been?”

“I can’t even tell you where to start. Do you know if my craft room is still intact?”

“I’m outside now, and there’s a good chance it is.”

“OK, there’s an attaché case in there, hidden inside a sewing machine box. It contains a lot of money and some papers that I think could incriminate Marcus’s cronies in the insider trading he was jailed for. If it’s possible, please get it to whoever is leading the investigation.”

“I’ll go in as soon as I can and let you know what I find.”

There was a moment’s silence that neither of them filled, until Andee finally said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I’d worked out who you really are.”

“You didn’t tell me, but you told Dan.”

“I know and I was wrong to do that. I’m sorry. But, Claudia, we’re on your side. Neither of us held back for any other reason than we wanted you to feel free to be whoever you want to be.”

For a moment it seemed that Claudia was going to say more, but instead she ended the call.

Chapter Twenty-Nine