yesterday between . . ." She hesitated. Between what? Christ, she didn't even have a time of death yet. ". . . between noon yesterday and ten last night." That seemed safe enough.
"I was here at work until six. Then I drove straight to class. I'm taking a class at the community college in Key West."
"What class?"
"Having to do with computers and the travel industry. Go ahead and check. I was there from six-thirty to eleven. I got home around eleven-thirty."
Aline asked her the name of the course, jotted it down, picked up the phone and verified the information right then. When she hung up, Lucy leaned forward.
"Listen, I'm not the lady you want to be talking to, Detective. Eve is the one who stood to gain the most from this. Eve. Not me. Eve. The only reason she married Doug was for his money."
"Oh, really? She told you that?"
She crushed her cigarette in an ashtray, raked her dark red nails through her hair. "Not personally, no. But Doug knew it. Doug told me, for God's sakes. But you think he cared?" She laughedâit was a sharp, hard sound. "No. Of course not. He had enough money so it didn't make any difference. He just wanted to . . . to create her. That's all. He created her. He took this stupid, gorgeous soda jerk and tried to make her into a cultured woman who all the hypocrites in the Cove would accept as their equal." She lit another cigarette, skewed her eyes against the smoke. "Do you even know what the hell I'm talking about, Detective Scott? Do you?"
"Just keep talking."
"I don't have anything else to say."
"Oh, I think you do. You can tell me, for example, where Doug and Ed Waite went at the end of May, Ms. Meadows. That would be nice, if you would tell me that."
Her eyes fluttered. It was the equivalent of a nervous stutter. "On one of their digs. That's all I know."
"But you arranged their tickets, didn't you?"
She tapped her lighter against her desk, and didn't look at Aline. "To Colombia. To Barranquilla."
"Where's the Lost City?"
"The what?"
"You heard me."
"The ticket was to Barranquilla and back to Miami. Two tickets. For Ed Waite and Doug." She sat forward, the string of pearls at her neck swinging out. 'That's my business. Travel. It'sâ"
"I overheard your conversation with Mr. Waite," Aline said. "Now why don't you just tell me what the Lost City is . . ."
"How should I know? I've never been there. It's just someplace in Colombia. That's all I know, Detective. Really."
"Then why didn't you just say so."
"I did. I said it just now." She burst into tears, covering her pretty face with her pretty hands. "I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know anything anymore."
Aline dug into her purse until she found a travel pack of Kleenex, and passed it to her. Lucy yanked out a couple of pieces, blew her pert little nose. "Did Doug provide for you in his will?"
Her head bobbed.
"How much?"
"A . . . a . . . quarter of a million."
Enough to constitute a motive, but if her alibi checked out, then the motive didn't matter. Except that Lucy Meadows was the sort of woman who wouldn't want to dirty her own hands, who would contract a killer.
"Anything else?"
"I . . . I don't know."
"I'd like to ask you something just out of curiosity, Ms. Meadows."
She seemed to relax a little. "What?"
"You were involved with Doug when he was still married to his first wife, right?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't break it off when he married Eve. Why not?"
"Why should I? I'm not the kind of woman a man like Doug marries, Detective Scott. I'm not so sure I would have even wanted to marry him, to tell you the truth. Oh, I didn't always think that. There was a long period of time after he told me he was going to marry Eve that I refused to see him. But then . . ." She shrugged, puffed on her cigarette, put it out, sat back. "I don't know. You get used to things. And actually, I think Doug and I had a better thing going between us than he ever had with Eve or his first wife." She smiled. "Maybe that's one
"I was here at work until six. Then I drove straight to class. I'm taking a class at the community college in Key West."
"What class?"
"Having to do with computers and the travel industry. Go ahead and check. I was there from six-thirty to eleven. I got home around eleven-thirty."
Aline asked her the name of the course, jotted it down, picked up the phone and verified the information right then. When she hung up, Lucy leaned forward.
"Listen, I'm not the lady you want to be talking to, Detective. Eve is the one who stood to gain the most from this. Eve. Not me. Eve. The only reason she married Doug was for his money."
"Oh, really? She told you that?"
She crushed her cigarette in an ashtray, raked her dark red nails through her hair. "Not personally, no. But Doug knew it. Doug told me, for God's sakes. But you think he cared?" She laughedâit was a sharp, hard sound. "No. Of course not. He had enough money so it didn't make any difference. He just wanted to . . . to create her. That's all. He created her. He took this stupid, gorgeous soda jerk and tried to make her into a cultured woman who all the hypocrites in the Cove would accept as their equal." She lit another cigarette, skewed her eyes against the smoke. "Do you even know what the hell I'm talking about, Detective Scott? Do you?"
"Just keep talking."
"I don't have anything else to say."
"Oh, I think you do. You can tell me, for example, where Doug and Ed Waite went at the end of May, Ms. Meadows. That would be nice, if you would tell me that."
Her eyes fluttered. It was the equivalent of a nervous stutter. "On one of their digs. That's all I know."
"But you arranged their tickets, didn't you?"
She tapped her lighter against her desk, and didn't look at Aline. "To Colombia. To Barranquilla."
"Where's the Lost City?"
"The what?"
"You heard me."
"The ticket was to Barranquilla and back to Miami. Two tickets. For Ed Waite and Doug." She sat forward, the string of pearls at her neck swinging out. 'That's my business. Travel. It'sâ"
"I overheard your conversation with Mr. Waite," Aline said. "Now why don't you just tell me what the Lost City is . . ."
"How should I know? I've never been there. It's just someplace in Colombia. That's all I know, Detective. Really."
"Then why didn't you just say so."
"I did. I said it just now." She burst into tears, covering her pretty face with her pretty hands. "I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know anything anymore."
Aline dug into her purse until she found a travel pack of Kleenex, and passed it to her. Lucy yanked out a couple of pieces, blew her pert little nose. "Did Doug provide for you in his will?"
Her head bobbed.
"How much?"
"A . . . a . . . quarter of a million."
Enough to constitute a motive, but if her alibi checked out, then the motive didn't matter. Except that Lucy Meadows was the sort of woman who wouldn't want to dirty her own hands, who would contract a killer.
"Anything else?"
"I . . . I don't know."
"I'd like to ask you something just out of curiosity, Ms. Meadows."
She seemed to relax a little. "What?"
"You were involved with Doug when he was still married to his first wife, right?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't break it off when he married Eve. Why not?"
"Why should I? I'm not the kind of woman a man like Doug marries, Detective Scott. I'm not so sure I would have even wanted to marry him, to tell you the truth. Oh, I didn't always think that. There was a long period of time after he told me he was going to marry Eve that I refused to see him. But then . . ." She shrugged, puffed on her cigarette, put it out, sat back. "I don't know. You get used to things. And actually, I think Doug and I had a better thing going between us than he ever had with Eve or his first wife." She smiled. "Maybe that's one
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