“Ted, Lucy Stone here at Country Cousins. I think I’ve got a scoop for you.” She gave him the details of the order, and he promised to write it up for the paper.

“That’s a cute story, Lucy,” he said. “Thanks.”

“Pam told me you’ve been following Barney’s accident. Do they know any more?” asked Lucy.

“Only that something caused the car to go right through the guardrail. Fortunately, it got caught in some trees. If he’d been a little farther along, it would have gone right into the water.”

“Do the police know what caused him to go over?”

“There were tire marks showing that he swerved. Something made him swerve, but they don’t know what. If he doesn’t come to, they may never know.”

“What about the crime lab?” questioned Lucy.

“They did send stuff to be analyzed. They won’t have the results for a couple of weeks, anyway. Hey, don’t you read the paper?” demanded Ted.

“I do when I have the time,” Lucy said guiltily. “Which reminds me, I’d better get back to work.”

She hung up and, walking out to the hallway, stood reading the bulletin board and finishing her soda. There was a strict policy forbidding liquids near the computers, and she didn’t want to risk angering George.

Where was George tonight? she wondered. She hadn’t seen him at all, which was unusual. In fact, peering down the dark tunnel of hallway that led to the executive offices, she didn’t think any of the managers were in the building tonight.

Lucy took a last swig of soda and walked slowly down the hallway. All the offices were dark. She stood for a minute outside George’s door, then impulsively reached for the knob.

It turned, and immediately she snatched her hand away and jumped back. She hadn’t expected the door to be unlocked. She stood in the hallway for a minute, then slipped into the office, closing and locking the door behind her. She flipped on the wall switch and stood for a moment blinking in the brightness. Then she went over to the window and pulled down the shade.

Quickly she worked her way around the small room. She pulled out file drawers and felt behind the files; she peered into a decorative vase. She even checked the wastebasket. She couldn’t have said what she was looking for, but when she opened the desk drawer and saw a black revolver, she was sure she’d found it.

She glanced around quickly to make sure she hadn’t disturbed anything, switched off the light, and slipped out into the hallway. Her heart was pounding as she walked back to her desk. Whatever had possessed her to do such a thing? What if she’d been caught? What could she have said?