"A Murder In Milburn", Book 4: Death By Ice Cream by Nancy McGovern

said. “Bernard says the key is to continue working. That way, we can let our subconscious mind slowly process all our feelings, while our conscious minds have a stable structure. In simpler words, Bernard wants us to keep a stiff upper lip.” She gave a weak smile. “I’m not as strong as he is. Every time I think of that poor girl, I feel a chill go down my spine.”
    “Did you know her at all?” Nora asked.
    “I suppose I did, the way one knows a face one has seen everyday,” Simone said. “Even if I didn’t know who she was.”
    “What did you think of her?”
    “How could I have an opinion about her when I didn’t even know her?” Simone asked. “Some people were saying today that she was rather free with her affections, but in all honesty, I don’t think that’s any of their business. As long as she was doing her work, her personal life shouldn’t matter. And she definitely didn’t deserve to be murdered!”
    “No. She didn’t.”
    “I hope they bring the killer to justice,” Simone said. “The true killer.”
    “But before that,” Nora said, “what did you tell the police about the keys?”
    “The factory keys,” Simone said. “It’s a habit we’ve had since Bernard’s father ran the factory. Every evening, after he’s locked up, Joe comes over to our house and hands us the keys. He takes them back in the morning. I told Bernard once that it would be more efficient if he just kept them overnight, but Bernard said he liked the little tradition. Besides, it gave him time to talk to Joe about the general working of the factory.”
    “So Joe bought over the keys every evening?” Nora asked, excited. “Did he hand them to you or put them up on the peg himself?”
    “He put them up on the peg himself,” Simone said. “It’s right by the door. I said hi to him, then went upstairs to give little Will a bath. Joe and Bernard were talking for a bit. Afterwards, Joe left and Bernard began to prepare dinner.”
    “So when did you notice the keys were missing?” Nora asked.  
    “This morning,” Simone said. “Bernard noticed they were missing and pointed it out to me, then not ten minutes later, we got a call saying that they’d found a body at the factory. Of course, we had to tell the police about the missing keys.” Simone shuddered. “I hate thinking about it. Imagine being killed and then tossed into a barrel! Poor girl! At least we know she was drugged first so she didn’t feel any pain when the killer injected her with ammonia.”
    “It’s horrible,” Nora agreed. “But Simone, you mentioned that Bernard pointed out the missing keys this morning. That means they were missing all night, presumably, and neither of you noticed, yes?”
    Simone nodded. “You know how it is, things just seem to blend in the background till you focus on them. Like, I know my phone is on the desk right now, but if it vanished, I wouldn’t really notice until I was looking for it. Bernard and I were too busy playing host to notice it.”
    “So isn’t it possible…” Nora said. “I’m not saying it happened, but isn’t it possible that Joe could just have slipped the keys off the peg and taken them away?”
    “Well. Yes,” Simone said.
    “It’s possible.” Bernard entered the room. He gave a nod to Nora, and gave a hug to his wife. “It’s entirely possible, Nora, except for the fact that it’s highly unlikely. Why would Joe do that?   Why steal the keys? It would be easier for him to make a copy, wouldn’t it?”
    “Oh, no, it wouldn’t,” Simone said. “The keys to our factory are extra-special, remember? We got them from that specialty lock-maker in Canada. They’re very difficult to duplicate, and I doubt anyone in Wyoming could do it.”
    “You’re right, I’d forgotten all about that!” Bernard exclaimed. “All right, so Nora has a solid theory, then. All this time, I was secretly convinced that Harvey must have taken the keys, to be honest… no offense, Nora…