“Well, for example, if you have credit card statements for the period of January and December, it might help me isolate where he was at different points.”
“I’m not too sure I want you taking our credit card records.”
“Well, all I can do is assure you that I’m only interested in the billing locations and possibly the items purchased. Not your credit card numbers.”
“I know, I’m sorry. That was silly of me. You’re the only one who seems to care anymore about Jim. Why am I suspicious of you?”
It made McCaleb feel uneasy not being totally truthful with the woman and telling her he had lost his official sanction. He stood up so that they could move on and he didn’t have to think about it.
The office was small and largely used as storage of skiing equipment and cardboard boxes. But one end of the room was largely taken up by a desk with two drawers and two built-in file cabinets.
“Sorry, it’s a mess. And I’m still getting used to doing all the bills. Jim always handled that.”
“Don’t worry about that. Do you mind if I just sort of sit and look through things a bit?”
“No, not at all.”
“Um, would it be possible for me to have a glass of water in here?”
“Of course, I’ll go get you one.”
She headed to the door but then stopped.
“You don’t really want the water, do you? You just want to be left alone and not have me hovering around.”
McCaleb smiled slightly and looked down at the worn green carpet.
“I’ll get you the water anyway, but then I’ll leave you alone.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Cordell.”
“Call me Amelia.”
“Amelia.”
McCaleb spent the next half hour going through the drawers and the paperwork on top of the desk. He worked quickly, knowing that the package from Carruthers was probably waiting for him in his postal box in the harbormaster’s office.
At the desk McCaleb took some notes on the legal pad Amelia Cordell had already worked on, and he piled documents and credit card records he wanted to take with him to study later. He made an inventory list of the things he wanted to take so that Amelia Cordell would have a record.
The last drawer he went through was in one of the file cabinets. It was almost empty and had been used by Cordell as the place to file work, insurance and estate planning records. There was a thick file on medical insurance, with billing records dating back to the birth of his daughters and his own treatment for a broken leg. The billing address of one of his treating physicians was in Vail, Colorado, leading McCaleb to guess the bone had been broken in a skiing misadventure.
There was a black binder with a handsome leather slipcover. McCaleb opened it and found that it contained documents relating to the wills of both husband and wife. McCaleb saw nothing unordinary. Each spouse had been the other’s beneficiary, with the children following in line in the event of both parents dying. McCaleb didn’t spend a lot of time with it.
The last file he looked at was simply labeled WORK and it contained various records, including performance evaluations and various office communications. McCaleb scanned the employment reviews and found that Cordell had apparently been held in high regard by his employers. McCaleb wrote down some of the names of supervisors who signed the reports so he could interview them later. Last he scanned the other correspondence but nothing interested him. There were copies of interoffice memos as well as letters of commendation for Cordell’s chairing of the engineering firm’s annual blood drive and his volunteer work in a program that provided Thanksgiving meals to the needy. There was also a two-year-old letter from a supervisor praising Cordell for stopping and helping the injured victims of a head-on collision in Lone Pine. Details of what Cordell did were not in the letter. McCaleb put the letters and evaluations back in the file and returned it to the file drawer.
McCaleb stood up and looked around the room. There was nothing else that raised any interest. He then noticed a framed photo on the desk. It was of the Cordell family. He picked it up and studied it for a moment, thinking about how much the bullet had shattered. It made him think of Raymond and Graciela. He envisioned a photo that had the two of them and McCaleb in it, smiling.
He took his empty water glass into the kitchen and left it on the counter. He then stepped into the living room and found Amelia Cordell sitting in the chair she had taken earlier. She was just sitting there. The television was not on, she had no book or newspaper in her hands. She appeared to be just staring at the glass top of the coffee table. McCaleb hesitated in the hallway from the kitchen.
“Mrs. Cordell?”
She shifted her eyes to him without moving her head.
“Yes?”
“I’m finished for now.”
He stepped in and placed the receipt on the table.
“These are the things I am taking. I’ll get it all back to you in a few days. I’ll either mail it or bring it up myself.”
Her eyes were on the list now, trying to read it from three feet away.
“Did you find what you need?”
