Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross Page A

of cash?”
    â€œWell,” Mildred said, wiping her eyes, “it’s possible. Horace liked to be prepared for emergencies, but I don’t know what you mean by a large amount.”
    â€œI mean,” Lieutenant Peavey said as he jotted a note on his pad, “well, we can get that information from the bank.”
    Mildred gasped as she understood the implication. “He could’ve been robbed! Somebody could’ve run him off the road and hidden his body. Oh, what am I going to do without him?”
    â€œMrs. Allen,” Lieutenant Peavey said in what I took as an attempt to comfort, “he may be gone, but we’re not convinced that he’s gone for good. What we do know is that he’s not near that accident site. We’ve searched every inch of the mountainside and combed the road for a mile in each direction, and there’s nothing to indicate what happened when his car went off the road. Of course, it rained last night, which washed away any footprints or tire marks that might’ve been there.” Lieutenant Peavey leaned forward in an intimidating manner and hardened his voice. “We’ve come to the conclusion that he walked away from the accident, so I repeat, where could he be now?”
    I could keep silent no longer. “Well, she certainly can’t tell you. Don’t you know that a wife is always the last to know anytime a husband gets in trouble? I’m surprised at you, Lieutenant Peavey. You seem to think that his own wife is hiding him away somewhere. This is not a criminal case, you know. If indeed you haven’t found Horace’s body, then it’s simply a missing persons case and he hasn’t been missing for forty-eight hours yet, so what’s the purpose of all these questions?”
    The lieutenant gave me a freezing glance, frowned and addressed Mildred as if he’d just decided to share something with her. “It’s like this. We found a sheet of paper wadded up under the passenger seat, a sheet that indicates some connection to Assured Estate Planners. Which, as you may know, we are investigating and whose owner is also missing.”
    I thought Mildred was going to faint dead away. If there was one thing she could not abide it was fraudulent dealings where money was concerned. Her financial reputation, as well as her family’s, had always been impeccable, and now to have her husband associated, all unbeknowst to her, with a company accused of defrauding her friends and neighbors was almost more than she could bear. She began to cry in earnest, hyperventilating and emitting with each gasp little cries of anguish. She sprawled back in her chair, making me wonder if she’d slide right off that silk chair onto the floor, where I’d never get her up again.
    â€œI better get Ida Lee,” I said, my futile efforts to fan Mildred’s face going for naught. “This session is probably over, Lieutenant. I’ve seen her like this before when her son came home in a dress and high heels. You can’t get any more information here anyway. She’s told you all she knows, and I think that you can see she knew nothing whatsoever of any dealings that Horace may have had with Richard Stroud.”
    On hearing Richard’s name, Mildred’s cries reached a piercing crescendo, and Lieutenant Peavey came to his feet in a hurry. Backing away, he said, “Should I call for an ambulance?”
    â€œNo, just Ida Lee.” As I hurried to the door, Ida Lee herself opened it and ran to Mildred. I heaved a sigh of relief since help had heard and answered the call. So I went out into the hall, with Lieutenant Peavey close behind.
    Closing the door on Mildred’s pitiful cries, I looked up at him. “I can’t believe that Horace Allen and Richard Stroud could be connected in any way, Lieutenant. Except I think they both like to play bridge and may be in the same bridge club. And they both belong to