Evelyn Walthers stopped in mid-stride. She turned around, and her face was as pale as bleached chalk. “Suit? There must be some mistake. Mrs. Finch was very specific about the arrangements and what she wanted from our stock.”

The woman stepped aside so that Ethel and Jesse could enter the room ahead of her.

There was a nice oak pedestal that could support a casket. Except there was no casket. Simply a display of fresh flowers forming a backdrop for a shiny bronze urn.

“See.” Evelyn pointed as if they needed her instruction. “It’s the John Keats Grecian model. Mrs. Finch said her husband loved poetry.”

Ethel forced the words across her lips. “It looks lovely, dear.”

Chapter 29

Jesse banged the palm of his hand on the steering wheel. “Cremated. Of course, he had to be cremated.”

He and Ethel sat in the car still parked in the funeral home lot.

“Well,” Ethel said, “it was a long shot, at best.”

“Now it’s an impossible shot.”

Ethel seemed unperturbed. She checked her phone, texted a brief message, and then reached into the back seat for the thermos. She pulled two mugs from the handbag at her feet. “Have some coffee.”

“I’m keyed up enough as it is. What do we do now?”

“The backup plan. Since we’re stymied, we let the resources of the government either unlock the KryptoFold or circumvent the key somehow.”

Jesse looked at her with alarm. “But they’ll know we held on to that evidence.”

“They might suspect, but they can’t prove it.”

“And the ten thousand dollars Tracy has?”

She smiled. “We cross that bridge later. I suggest we go to the Finch house straightaway. The sooner we get there, the sooner we find.”

“We find?”

“Yes. I’ll call Susan and Davie and tell them we’re going to straighten up the house, and this time you’ll uncover what everyone else missed—Jonathan’s backup drive and KryptoFold.”

“How do we find it if the house is locked?”

“I’ll unlock it. Now drive, before Evelyn thinks one of us has died and needs her services.”

***

Lisa Draper couldn’t risk getting any closer than the far end of a strip mall’s lot. Douglas had parked at the other end closest to the next cross street. That told her he was able to keep eyes on Ethel and Jesse without getting near enough to be seen or be trapped facing the wrong way whenever they went mobile again.

She checked her phone map and learned Walthers Funeral Home was located a half block down the cross street. It had to be the destination. Were they checking on arrangements as a favor to Finch’s wife since she was still in Fredericksburg with her sister? Lisa could think of no other reason. And why would Jesse have brought his computer?

Her phone beeped. The text message from Hauser read:

What’s on tap for today?