The snack bar was bright and cheery; it was staffed by volunteers, mostly retirees, who enjoyed playing waitress one or two mornings a month. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. Lucy treated herself to an egg-salad sandwich, something she loved and rarely bothered to make. Taking her tray, she sat down at a table in the corner and ripped open the little bag of potato chips that came with her sandwich. From her table she had a clear view of the hospital lobby and as she ate, she enjoyed watching the passing parade.

She wasn’t surprised when she saw Ted Stillings come into the snack bar. He checked in frequently at the hospital for the “Hospital News” column in the Pennysaver. Seeing her wave, he came over to her table, carrying his roast beef sandwich and chocolate shake.

“Hi, Lucy. You here to see Barney?”

“It was my turn to bring Marge.” She brightened. “The doctors say he’s making excellent progress.”

“That’s great news.” His long, solemn face lit up in a big smile and he scratched his crew cut thoughtfully. “That accident of his is driving the cops crazy. They’ve gone over that cruiser with a microscope, but they can’t find any sign of tampering or mechanical failure. They just can’t believe Barney would go over the cliff there by accident, he knew the road too well.”

“Black ice?”

“He would have allowed for it and known what to do. He’d gone to all the special cop driving classes. They all say he was a terrific driver.” Ted leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Lucy, do you think he might have tried to kill himself?”

“No, not Barney. On Christmas night? You can’t be serious!” Lucy exclaimed.

“It’s a possibility,” insisted Ted. “People do commit suicide, you know.” He took a big bite of pickle. “It’d be a hell of a story. I could use a hot story right now.”

“I thought Sam Miller’s murder was a big story for you.”

“It was. My original article got picked up by The Boston Globe and The New York Times. ” Ted offered this news shyly, much as Toby might show her a paper his teacher had marked “A.”

“That’s terrific! Congratulations!” Lucy was genuinely excited for Ted.

“It was great,” said Ted. “I thought it would be a nice opportunity for me. I love Tinker’s Cove and all, but I’m a little tired of small-town news. All those meetings. Last night I was at the school committee until midnight. They couldn’t decide if they should cut the late bus or not. They debated for hours. I can’t help wondering if I’d like a big-city paper more. I was hoping the Sam Miller story would develop into something.” He shrugged. “But it never did. Nobody knows who killed Sam Miller, or why.”