“She called to tell me that she would not have given him the money—two thousand dollars—she felt that she had been duped. I was miserable at the time and she followed her sympathies. I don’t know if she hoped for a reconciliation or not, but—” Her voice trailed off.

Leland nodded. Of course none of it checked out, because MacIver had not cashed his policies. Nor could Leland remember seeing any notations of loans on their cash value. He had to put it out of his thoughts, for if MacIver had hidden assets from his first wife—money she had worked with him to earn—she might try to make a claim on it now. The settlement agreement had been based on fraud. There was one more side of it that he felt he could explore safely. “Can you tell me if his mother ever said that she had been repaid the two thousand?”

“Yes. She mentioned it once, perhaps two years after the divorce. My remarriage probably helped him get the money together, but neither of us—Mrs. MacIver or I—were willing to discuss it at the time.”

This was another thing Norma would not want to hear, and it was so ugly that Leland had to think of Dr. Roberts’ warning to him, but the other aspects drew him away from that. MacIver’s motivation, for one, on which Leland had to reserve judgment until he had the figures and dates. At the least he would be able to offer Norma more than a guess about how her husband had made his start. Leland did not know how old the papers in Mike’s possession were, but it seemed safe to assume that MacIver had not brought over the detailed records of his first marriage, no matter what they proved. Leland’s mind began to reach for ways to come to the facts. It was almost a reflex and he had to bring it under control. His guest was sitting there, staring at her food.

He said, “Don’t do yourself any damage. All of it happened long ago. It was finished last August.”

She smiled. “It won’t be finished until no one can remember. When we’re all dead.” Her eyes were large and clear. “I wasn’t thinking of that. You may be the only one who has met both of his wives. We’re all involved, even you.”

“What were you thinking when I interrupted?”

She smiled again. “I bored you.”

“No, I wanted to know what was making you look so unhappy. I guessed wrong.”

“I was thinking that I haven’t helped you.”

“That’s not true. You’ve helped more than you realize.”

“That’s bitchy. If a woman said that, you would want to bloody her nose.”

“You’re right and I’m sorry.”

“And if I want to know how I’ve helped, I’ll have to hire my own private detective.”