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And without further ado, she grabbed her coat and was out of there, even before Odelia could supply her with some more details about the case.

And so when Dad stuck his head out of his office again moments later, and saw that the reception desk was unmanned—or unwomanned—he asked, “Where is your grandmother?”

“Um, I’m afraid I may have done something to deprive you of your receptionist, Dad,” she said sheepishly.

Dad shrugged.“What else is new?”

And as she walked out of the office, her mind was already whirring with possibilities. In fact she was thinking so hard she hadn’t even noticed Max and Dooley were still following in her trail, deftly trying to keep up as she took long strides in the direction of… She suddenly halted, and both cats bumped into the back of her legs.

“What’s going on?” asked Max.

“Why did you stop?” asked Dooley.

But since she couldn’t very well start talking to her cats in the middle of the street, lest someone call the loony bin, instead she gestured with her head in the direction of Main Street, and it was a testament to her furry friends’ perspicacity that they immediately caught her drift, and crossed the street on a trot in the direction of the General Store, where they could talk to one of their fellow feline spies.

Odelia, meanwhile, set foot for the local branch of First Financial Crest, where until yesterday Dino Wimmer had spent his days catering to his clients’ financial needs.

Once inside, she introduced herself to the young man at the desk and asked if she could talk to Dino’s partner, one Mr. Romney Knight. It only took five minutes in a comfortable waiting room, accompanied by a nice-looking fern who clearly was the strong silent type, and then she was ushered into Dino’s partner’s office.

“Yes, what can I do for you, Miss Poole?” asked Romney Knight. He was an imposing man in his late forties, impeccably dressed in a navy blue suit and sporting a Wolf Blitzer type beard. Odelia had never seen a banker with a beard before and she found herself staring at the hirsute appendage a few seconds longer than was appropriate. “Writing an article on Dino’s passing, I presume? All I can say is that we’re all deeply saddened. Saddened and grieving, as you can imagine. Dino was a remarkable human being, but above all a wonderful colleague with great business acumen and excellent standing in the local community. A pillar of our chamber of commerce, as you probably well know.”

“The thing is, Mr. Knight,” said Odelia as she took out her tablet and stylus, “that Rose Wimmer, that’s Dino’s daughter, seems to think her dad might not have taken his own life but might have been the victim of foul play.”

It took the banker all of five seconds to process this information, and then he frowned.“Foul play? You’re telling me Rose thinks her dad… was murdered?”

“She does. And she’s asked me to look into this possibility for her.”

The banker’s frown deepened. “Dino murdered. Are you sure, Miss Poole? I thought he’d taken a bunch of pills and… Though of course Rose will probably know better. She was there when…”

“Yes, she was in the house,” Odelia confirmed. “So do you think there’s a possibility that Rose is right? That someone killed Mr. Wimmer?”

“Murdered…” said Mr. Knight, clearly having to wrap his head around this possibility, the same way Odelia had had to do earlier. “Well, if he was murdered, I can’t think of anyone who’d have wanted him dead. The man was universally liked. His staff adored him, his clients—his wife anddaughter obviously loved him very much…”

“No trouble with a client? No threats made against his life?” she prompted.

The bank manager hesitated, then said,“One thing comes to mind. Not that I think it has any bearing on the case, but since you’ll hear it from a member of staff sooner or later, you better get the story from me. A client of ours recently applied for a loan—a sizable sum—to invest in a real estate project. A new office tower behind Town Hall.”

“Corinthian Tower?”

“Indeed. Now this man is a seasoned investor, with a long-standing relationship with our institution, so he came to us first. Offered us the opportunity to become a partner in this ambitious project. And Dino turned him down.”

“Who is this developer?”

“Leo Kemp.”

“I think I’ve heard of him.”

“Well, he is a respected member of our local business community.”

“Why did Mr. Wimmer turn him down?”

“He said it was too risky. There had been some… irregularities, and Dino was nothing if not a stickler for procedure and so these irregularities irked him to a great degree.”

“What irregularities were those?” asked Odelia as she jotted down the name of Leo Kemp on her tablet and underlined it three times with bold strokes of her stylus.

“I’m afraid I can’t divulge that. You see, the loan application has been filed again this morning, and is being reviewed as we speak.”

She stared at the manager.“And what are the chances of it being approved this time?”

The manager smiled an unctuous smile.“I’d say the chances are good. Very good indeed.”