“Here is where I come in. By sheer accident Roberts knows of me from my own Port Smith days, and after first asking me to go easy for Norma’s sake, he bludgeoned me with a personal matter. I would like you to accept my word that he went as far with it as he dared. I told him that I would think about it. Since then, I’ve been falling all over him. He’s called me, invited me to a party—that’s right, a party.”

“I see. He did have a motive. MacIver had his letters.”

“That’s the part I don’t understand,” Leland said. “I know Roberts and how he handles himself. I know a few things about MacIver. In any case, I have no doubt that it was Roberts—or someone he put up to it—who broke into MacIver’s office. Probably he did it himself. His own office was close enough.”

Mike wondered if Leland had considered the possibility of outsiders—professionals. Leland told him how professionals would have made a murder and robbery easier on themselves. Mike nodded.

“And the garage wasn’t disturbed,” he said. “It’s inconceivable that anyone else would go as far as the office only to give up.” He was staring through the windshield. “The question is: do you think Roberts is capable of murder? Or of living with it?”

“I don’t know.” Leland slapped uneasily at the rim of the steering wheel. “He’s a great actor, that’s sure. I’ll tell you one thing. He’s not going to get the opportunity to show me what he can or cannot do.”

From the airport Leland drove to Norma’s, and while he was getting his clothing, she went over the four lists. She had been told nothing. When he came downstairs again she was waiting. From the sofa she handed up the lists, silent. There were four checks against the first list, none against the second or third, and two against the fourth. She had checked her husband’s name. The other three on the first list, she said, were men who had telephoned him at home on business. There was nothing that she could tell Leland about them. She was fairly sure that two had called more than once. She could remember having thought that she would have regarded the men who called him at home as pests, except for their courtesy. Courtesy? Yes, they were unfailingly polite. Could she remember any names that did not appear on the lists? She did not think that there had been any other callers.