“That old lady from the symphony tonight.The one who tried to cut in front of us.”
Alissa scoffs.“Oh, that’s it.Shedid it.After all, she showed some real propensity for murder when she tried to snag that last brownie?—”
“Baby, no.Not her.Her husband.”
She raises her eyebrows.“What?”
“When you noticed them as we left.I recognized her husband.He’s a member of Aces Underground.”
She sighs.“The symphony is probably rife with people who go to that damned club.Its patrons are among the richest of the rich in this city.”
“But this man, the husband.I remember seeing him the last night Svetlana—the Nine of Diamonds—worked at the club.May’s friend.He took her behind the velvet curtains.”
Alissa drops her jaw.“But he’s a married man!”
I stop myself from rolling my eyes.“Adultery isn’t terribly uncommon at Aces.A lot of men go there to get away from their wives.”
She sits down again.“Human rubbish, the lot of them.”
“On that we can agree.”I sit next to her.“But listen, that man could very well be one of the last people to see Svetlana alive, and now we know he’s a patron of the symphony.”
“That’s not a whole lot to go off of.Unless…” She widens her eyes and grabs her purse.“Didn’t that old bat say something about being a high-tiered donor?”She grabs the program from tonight out of her purse and flips to the end.“Companies like the CSO devote a solid seventy percent of their program to sucking up to their donors.The more you donate, the bigger your picture is in the booklet.If this man is important enough to have a membership at Aces, I bet he’s…” She flips through a few pages.“Joe and Frida Manx… Terri and Trixie Jubb…”—she points—“There they are.”
I look down.This couple must donate a lot, because they have a whole page to themselves.Their picture is old.They look at least fifteen years younger than the people I saw tonight.But it’s them, all right.
“Wade and Gyra Gimble,” I read.
Alissa pulls out her phone and taps on the screen.“I found the wife’s Facebook profile.It’s them.”
“Helps that their last name is kind of odd,” I say.“You don’t meet many Gimbles.”
“That you don’t,” Alissa says.“If we can find out where they live, we could talk to the husband.See if he has any information on Svetlana.If we can find something out about her, we might be able to tie this whole thing to Rouge and see that she’s brought to justice.”
“Sounds like a plan.”I stand, nodding to Bill.“Thanks for all your help.”
“Of course,” Bill says.“Am I correct in assuming that you don’t want the remains back?”
“Is there any chance of pulling any more information with what you have left?”I ask.
Bill shakes his head.“I have her DNA results.It’s all written down.Same with the dental records.If a match comes through, you’ll be my first call.But at this point, I’ve done all I can with what you gave me.”
I nod.“Then you can send her to a crematorium.I’ll take care of the costs.”
Bill takes out a clipboard and writes a few things down.“I’ll let you know when you can pick up the ashes.”
“Great.We’ll scatter them somewhere meaningful,” Alissa says.
I turn toward Alissa.“In the meantime, my girlfriend and I should be heading home.It’s getting late.”
“That it is.”Alissa stands up and the program in her lap flutters to the ground.“Oops!I definitely want to keep this.”She leans down and grabs it, opening her purse to put it back inside.Her eyes widen.“Hold on a second.What’s this?”
I take a few steps toward her.“What’swhat, baby?”
She pulls out a small manila envelope—the kind you might use in a game ofClue.“This isn’t mine.”
“Did you leave your purse unattended?Maybe someone slipped it in by mistake.”
She shakes her head.“It was on my person the whole time.It’s been either on me or in my locker at work ever since”—she slaps her hands to her cheeks—“Sunday afternoon.The same day you got the riddle.That we found May.I… I was looking for Dinah, to help me translate the note.But then one of my patients flatlined and I ran to his room.All the nurses in the area were in the patient’s room as we brought him back.Anyone could have walked up and put this in there.”
