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Ellery frowned. “Where did you hear that? James?”

Sue rolled her eyes. “James?No way. James believes Mommy Dearest was pure as the driven snow. No, I got it straight from my nana, who was a waitress at the Deep Dive the same time as Joey.” She grinned at Ellery’s expression. “By the way, Vernon also hit on my nana. Apparently, he was willing to boink anything in a skirt.”

“I’m starting to get that picture.” He added suspiciously, “Who’s your nana?”

“Joan Lewis.” Sue looked torn between disbelief and amusement. “Not everyone on this island is involved in a life of crime, you know. My nana was a wonderful mother and grandmother and homemaker. She was probably even a good waitress. Other than being a witness, she’s not relevant to the case.”

“Okay, okay.”

“It was the Fourth of July, and the pub was officially closed. But the Shandys held a private party. Now here’s something I’m sure you don’t know. Joey believed she and Vernon were going to run away together that night.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Vernon had a marriage license. She caught a glimpse of it in his wallet, I guess.”

Ellery whistled soundlessly. “But wasn’t she already married?”

“Yes, but they were separated.”

“She was still technically married.”

“In case you didn’t notice, Joey lives in a world of her own.”

Elleryhadn’tnoticed that. He knew Joey was prevaricating a bit, exaggerating a little, but she hadn’t seemed delusional. He said, “Obviously, they didn’t run off together.”

“No. By the—to quote my nana—shank’s end of the evening, Joey was drunk off her cute little ass. She and Vernon had a huge shouting match, and he left the party. Never to be seen again.”

“How reliable a source is your nana?”

“She passed two years ago, I’m sad to say, but she was very reliable. For one thing, she didn’t drink. At all. She was probably the only person at the Deep Dive that evening who was stone-cold sober.”

“Did Joey follow Vernon out?”

Sue shook her head regretfully. “No. According to multiple witnesses, she was there until closing. Well, in theory she was working, but it sounds like the staff was partying as hard as the customers that night.”

“Maybe Vernon came back to the pub.”

“Maybe. It would have been after-hours. And why would he?”

“Did your nana know what Joey and Vernon argued about?”

“Joey’s version was she refused to run away with Vernon. Among other things, she couldn’t allow him to throw his navy career away.” Sue gave another of those ladylike snorts.

Ellery eyed her speculatively, “And what was your nana’s theory?”

“According to Nana, Joey wascrazyabout Vernon. If he’d asked her to jump off a cliff with him, she’d have done it. So, had he asked her to run away with him, there’s no way she’d have turned him down.”

“What did Joey think happened to him?”

“She believed,saidshe believed, he killed himself in despair when she turned him down.”

“From the little I know of Vernon, that seems highly unlikely.”

“I’ll say. No way did big, tough, treasure-hunting Vernon Shandy dive into the sea because hot-to-trot Joey Franklin wouldn’t elope with him. He, at least, would know the marriage wouldn’t be valid.”

“Maybe he didn’t care.”

“He cared. He wouldn’t have thrown his naval career away either.”