Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 122, Nos. 3 & 4. Whole Nos. 745 & 746, September/October 2003

“Just before the cappuccino. We’d had quite a bit to drink, and Val had been moody all evening. Finally, she hit us with the news. When everyone got around to toasting Jacqui for the fiftieth time, Val said something about her face not being so photogenic if she didn’t keep her hands off me. You can imagine how that heated things up.”

“Was it true? About the affair?”

“I’m not proud of it, but I won’t deny it.”

“How did Valerie find out?”

“I don’t know. I thought we were discreet.”

“Could someone have told her?”

“I suppose so, but I can’t imagine who. I didn’t think anyone else knew.”

“What happened next?”

“Well, there was a very embarrassing scene in the restaurant, and Jacqui had to take Val to the washroom to quiet her down.”

“Didn’t that surprise you, Jacqui and Val going off together after what had just happened?”

“I never looked at it that way. They’d been best friends for an awful long time. But Val was a lot calmer when she came back, and Jacqui left almost immediately with Scott and Ginny. Val and I stayed a bit longer with Ray, drank some more, but it was obvious the party was over. We started arguing again in the cab on the way home. When we got there, the fight went on. I tried to calm things down, but Val was really wild. She’s always been extremely jealous. Anyway, I was looking for a distraction, and I remembered there was a package of books I wanted to open. Modern first editions. I hadn’t had time in the morning. I got a kitchen knife to cut the string, then Val started on at me again for being more interested in the books than in what she had to say, which, to be honest, was nothing really but a string of insults aimed at me. That was when I threw the knife down and went for a shower — they always seem to calm me down — and when I came back she was dead. That’s all there is to it.”

“You didn’t hear anything?”

“Nothing at all. The shower’s pretty loud.”

“Could someone have got in the house while you were showering?”

“I don’t see how. The front door was locked and bolted, with the chain on.”

“And the back?”

“The door was open because it was a warm evening, and we get a nice breeze from the lake, up the ravine, but the screen door was locked. I know because the police kept going on about it when they were trying to get me to confess. They kept telling me how it couldn’t have been anyone else, that there were no signs of a break-in.”

“How long had you been seeing Jacqui?”

“Only a couple of months.”

“Was it serious?”

“I don’t know.” Tony sighed, running long, bony fingers through his hair. “She’s a hard one to fathom. I thought I was serious, but maybe I was just infatuated. Jacqui’s a fascinating woman, complicated, very difficult to get to know.”

“You say she and Val were old friends?”

“Yes. Had been since high school. They both went into modeling, out in Vancouver first, then they came to Toronto about five years ago. That was what hurt Val most — that it was her closest friend. It wasn’t so much that I’d been with another woman, though that would have been bad enough, but that I’d been with Jacqui. We’d always flirted a bit in public, you know, just in fun. But one time we were alone and things just got out of hand.”

“Can you think of anyone else who might have had a reason to hurt Valerie?”

“So you do believe me?”

I remembered Susan’s plea. “I’m keeping an open mind.”

Tony thought for a moment. “No,” he said. “Since Val gave up modeling, she’s been doing a bit of teaching at the agency. Deportment, public speaking, that sort of thing. She gets along well with everyone.”

“Did she have any lovers?”

“Not that I knew of, and I’m pretty sure I would have known.”

“Okay,” I said, getting up to leave. “Thanks a lot, Tony. If anything comes up, I’ll be in touch right away.”

Tony seemed surprised and alarmed that I was leaving so soon. He sat up abruptly and crossed his long legs. “You are going to help me, aren’t you? You do believe me?”

“What I believe doesn’t really matter,” I said. “It’s what I can get the police to believe that counts. But don’t worry, I’ll do my best. One more thing: Do you think I could have the house keys? It would help if you’d write down the address, too. I’d like to have a look around.”

“Sure. You can take Valerie’s set,” he said. “I picked them up last time I was over there, after the police let me out. I couldn’t stand to stay in the house, not after what happened, but I didn’t like the idea of them just lying around like that.”

I took the ring of keys. A Mickey Mouse key chain. Cute. “Do you know what all these are for?” I asked.

Tony started counting them off. “Front door, back door, studio, agency. That one I don’t know.”

There was one key left, but it didn’t look like a door key to me. Too small. I thought I had a pretty good idea what it was.

“Did Valerie keep a safety-deposit box?” I asked Tony.

He seemed surprised by the question. “Not that I know of. Why?”

I held up the key. “That’s why,” I said.

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