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

there are still a lot of holes in his alibi, and a lot of proof against him.”
    “I know. The police has plenty of proof incriminating him,” Nora said. “All I have is knowledge of the kind of man he is - a good man at his core. Harvey is not a murderer.”
    “That’s some loyalty,” Bernard said admiring her. “Simone, if I’m ever arrested, take pointers from Nora, all right?”
    “That joke’s in very poor taste, Bernard,” Simone said sternly.
    “Sorry,” he said. “You must be happy to hear there’s a chance Joe did it anyway. You’ve always hated Joe.”
    “Why?” Nora asked.
    “He downright harasses some of the women here,” Simone said, bristling. “The only reason we haven’t fired him is because none of the women wanted to make a big deal out of it, and he’s almost nearing his retirement. Believe me, it’s a topic I and Bernard have argued about aplenty.”
    “You were arguing about it yesterday too,” Nora remembered.  
    “Exactly.”
    “All right, I’ll be going now,” Nora said. “Give you two some quality time. Say hi to little Will for me.”
    “Will do.” Simone smiled. “I know this is a hard time for you and Harvey, so if you need anything, just let us know.”
    “Oh, I did have one question,” Nora said, turning back around. “You and Karen both mentioned that she’d been killed with ammonia. How did you know so much since the forensic reports aren’t out yet?”
    “Deputy Ellerton’s to thank for that,” Simone said. “One of my aides was giving me a report, and Ellerton and Sean appeared wanting to check our ammonia supplies. Sure enough, a batch was missing. Ellerton immediately made a theory about sleeping pills and ammonia. By noon, everyone in the factory knew.”
    “Another question,” Nora said.
    “What is it now?” Bernard was looking at his watch a little impatiently.
    “What about the night watchmen? I know you had one by your main gates.”
    “The murderer must have gotten in through the back gate,” Bernard said. “That’s where the construction site is, and the watchmen don’t really go out there.”
    “But they did report something today,” Simone said, suddenly excited. “Our night watchman James was fast asleep last night, when the new guy, Ian, came in to relieve him. Ian said that he and James thought they heard a large crash, and immediately went to investigate in the back. Everything looked all right, so they went back. They thought maybe it was just a raccoon.”
    “But it wasn’t!” Nora exclaimed. “It must have been the murderer, mustn’t it?”
    “What a hideous thought,” Simone said. “Ian and James were so close to catching him, then!”
    “Or her ,” Bernard said. He looked at Nora. “You know, we suspect Joe or Harvey of taking those keys, but it occurs to me, you were there last night, Nora. You could have taken them too.”
    “Bernard, don’t be ridiculous!” Simone said.
    “I read somewhere that murderers are so over-confident, they sometimes insert themselves into the scene of crime to get more attention, and get a thrill,” Bernard said. “Isn’t it funny, Simone, how Nora’s snooping around.”
    “Bernard, you’re being very rude.”
    “I’m being rude?” Bernard asked. “I don’t know, Simone. It seems to me Nora had an opportunity, and also a motive.”
    “Motive?”
    “It’s obvious, isn’t it? After all, Harvey was cheating on her with Tiffany!”

    *****

Chapter 11
    “Bernard!” Simone was appalled. “You shouldn’t have said that!”
    “It’s a theory, isn’t it?” Bernard said. “Just like her theory about Joe?”
    “Why are you always so protective of Joe?” Simone asked. “He really isn’t a very nice guy.”
    “Joe was like a cool uncle to me, growing up,” Bernard said. “I’m very fond of him. I used to sneak into the factory as a ten year old, and Joe never once told my father about it. My father, of course, was far too busy to pay attention to me, but