“There was no robbery, we know that, but by the account of the way his things were found, there could have been a struggle. At the banks, there was no evidence of withdrawals for blackmail payments. There is the possibility that someone contacted him for the purpose of blackmail and that the first meeting, the one up there, went wrong.” Leland took the chance to light a cigarette. He was not going to state the other, stronger, alternative: that her husband, unencumbered by shoes and the items in his pocket, had waited for a would-be blackmailer with the intention of killing him. Leland had no evidence; it just seemed as if MacIver, who had concealed so many things, could have planned to conceal a murder. He could have lost a brief struggle and the other man could have blundered upon his successful escape. It explained even better than the official verdict why the shoes, wallet, and keys had been on the roof, and why they had been in the positions in which they had been found. MacIver had put them all down neatly, but the shoes had been kicked aside in the silent, seconds-long fight. The exclamation MacIver had uttered could have been in his surprise at having lost. It was tantalizing. It answered all the questions the evidence asked. It felt good on MacIver—within his capacities. Yet Leland had no proof, and in the lack of it, his instincts made him keep his mind clear for the real questions. Why had the police called their superiors? Why were MacIver’s books in code? Why were his movements so difficult to trace? Why did so many people, his wife among them, know so little about him?

“We’re going to have to wait for my partner’s report before we have the picture of the progression of your husband’s assets,” Leland said. “His bank accounts fluctuated wildly, withdrawals followed by larger deposits. In spite of the losses he took at the track during the two months I examined, he was able to add to his accounts. My partner will have to trace your husband’s transactions on the stock market. At the time of his death his accounts came to less than thirty percent of his gross assets. Although he prepared for death with a will, he had not prepared his estate. Also, there are the insurance claims you lost.