Shayne had been standing over the lawyer. He sat down abruptly and said, “Perhaps it doesn’t matter,” wearily. “But right now I’m going along with the theory that Carrol was killed by someone who knew exactly what Nora planned to do. The motive probably was to prevent the reconciliation taking place and, quite possibly, the timing arranged to put Nora on the spot and frame her for the murder.”
“And I suggest that such a theory is absurdly fantastic,” said Bates with tight-lipped decision.
“Can you give us a better one? From everything I’ve heard, Ted Granger was enough infatuated to give him a good motive for wanting reconciliation blocked.”
“But not to the point of committing murder.”
“No one ever knows,” Shayne told him gravely, “when that point is reached.”
“But Granger had no opportunity,” Bates objected. “He was in Wilmington.”
“When?”
“Last night. I’ve just told you he flew down with me.”
“He could easily have been in Miami last night, and he could have flown back to establish an alibi.”
Bates shook his head slowly and he almost smiled. “Not Ted. It’s not in his character. He and Ralph Carrol were cousins, and quite good friends. That is one reason he felt so bad about having allowed himself to become involved with Nora.”