“Yes, ma’am,” I said, one hand on the wrapped journal. “Before I show this to you, I need to explain how I came to find it and what it is.”

“‘Curiouser and curiouser.’” Miss Dickce grinned as she quoted Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

I doubted either one of them would be smiling by the time I finished what I had come to say. After one deep breath to steady my nerves, I launched into my explanation, starting with the photograph of Essie Mae Hobson that Vera had sent me.

Miss Dickce’s expression remained alight with curiosity while I talked, but Miss An’gel’s countenance grew stonier by the sentence. As the elder sister she might have vague memories of Essie Mae, whereas Miss Dickce would have been only an infant when their biological mother was forced to leave them.

“I never truly thought either of you killed Vera,” I said as I neared the end of my story. “But to be thorough I had to consider any possible angle to get at the truth, and that’s why I examined your family archives. What I found turned out not to have anything directly to do with Vera’s murder, though it had a lot to do with her life.” Now the only sound in the room, besides our breathing, came from my cat. His purr rumbled as I watched the sisters carefully for a hint of their reaction. Miss An’gel’s head could have been carved from granite.

When at last she spoke, Miss An’gel sounded neutral, to my great surprise. “Thank you for your honesty, Charlie. Had you not told us we would never have known what you did, and I appreciate your position. I certainly don’t relish the idea that you considered us as suspects, but I can see that you had to be thorough.”

Miss Dickce nodded. “Certainly, Charlie, you did the right thing.” She flashed a quick grin. “Unlike my iron-drawered sister here, I am frankly tickled that you might have thought for a moment that I would push Vera down those stairs.”

Miss An’gel shot her sibling what should have been a quelling look, but Miss Dickce returned it with a defiant glare instead.

I breathed a little more easily, now that I had successfully negotiated one hurdle. The most difficult one remained, however.

“Thank you both,” I said. “Now I need to share with you something I found while I was looking through your family papers.” My hands trembled a bit as I unwrapped the journal. I let the paper fall to the floor, and Diesel immediately scrambled off the sofa to investigate the paper. While he played with it, I handed the journal to Miss An’gel.

The Ducote sisters stared at the book but neither moved to open it. “What is it?” Miss An’gel asked.

“Your mother’s journal,” I said, feeling my chest tighten. I took a deep breath before I continued. “There is information in those pages that I think you both should know, and I will leave you to read it. Before I go, however, I want you to know that I will never reveal what I read.”