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Ellery said slowly, “You’ve been working on this case for a long time, haven’t you?”

Sue’s eyes kindled with a mix of emotions. “I sure have. I’ve been putting this puzzle together, piece by piece, for the lastthreeyears. And who gets a personal invite from the Shandys to stick his oar in?You.Vera Shandy won’t even take my phone calls.”

He smiled ruefully. “Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s not your fault,” she said irritably. “I learned a long time ago life isn’t fair.”

Ellery weighed the pros and cons of working with Sue. He still didn’t trust her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t making a sincere effort to mend fences. She had volunteered a lot of useful information with no promise of anything in return.

He sighed. “I hope I don’t regret this. But okay, I agree. It makes sense to work together this time.”

Sue brightened. “Yes? I get an exclusive on the story?”

Ellery laughed. “I don’t think you’ve got a lot of competition, but sure.”

“Excellent.”

Her cat-that-got-the-cream smile made him uneasy, but he asked anyway. “Did your nana have any theory as to the other name on that marriage license?”

His unease grew as Sue’s smile turned slightly malicious. “She sure did. She was convinced your great-great-great-aunt Eudora was the other name.”

Ellery stared. “Vernon was planning to marry Eudora?”

“It went through his mind, obviously. That doesn’t mean he was really going to do it. Or thatshehad any interest in marrying him. Vernon didn’t seem to have been the settling down kind. Frankly, neither did she. But for years, the rumor was, he left the Deep Dive that night to go see your aunt Eudora.”

Chapter Sixteen

The Shandys were in mourning.

That thought hadn’t occurred to Ellery, though it probably should have, until he walked past Vera’s house and found every available parking space filled.

There were a number of questions he wanted to ask the Shandy matriarch, starting with:why did you hide the doubloons with that antique deep diving suit and then stash them in the Historical Society’s warehouse? But this was clearly not the time.

In any case, he thought he knew the answer. He just wanted confirmation.

In the meantime, he decided to head over to PICO PD on the slim chance that Jack could get away for lunch.

When he stepped through the glass doors, Mac, the grizzled desk sergeant, looked up and greeted him with a resigned, “Here comes trouble.”

“Is he in a meeting?”

“I guess he is now.” But Mac was smiling a little as he bent over his paperwork.

Ellery rapped on the half-open door to Jack’s office.

“Come,” Jack called curtly.

Ellery poked his head in. “We interrupt this program to annoy you and make things generally more irritating.”

Jack gave a short laugh. “Hey there. What’s up?”

“I wondered if you might be able to get away for lunch?”

“Sorry. No. I’m waiting for a call from Colonel Giordano of the State Police.”

Ellery pulled a face. “Okay. I figured.”

He started to withdraw, but Jack said, “Pull up a chair. I’ll share my roast beef sandwich with you.”