“Dangerous things, exhaust hoses,” Walter put in seriously. “If they get clogged with lint, they can cause fires. Anyhow, we figured we’d do Kaitlin a favor, so after we finished with the washer, we pulled out the dryer to check the exhaust hose. That was when we found the large-sized undies and the videos and all.”
“Behind the machine?” Rafe asked carefully.
Torrance nodded violently. “Someone had cut out a big chunk of drywall and stuffed the videos and the ladies’ things into the space between a couple of studs.”
“Knew right off the female stuff didn’t belong to you, Rafe,” Walter assured him hastily.
“What was your big clue?” Rafe asked. “Wrong size?”
Torrance guffawed with laughter. “Heck, everyone knew you’d been seein’ a lot of Kaitlin that summer. But me and Walter never figured you for one of them transistors.”
“Transvestites,” Rafe corrected mildly.
Torrance nodded. “Never figured you for one of them.”
“You were right about my taste in underwear. I’m a pretty traditional kind of guy.”
Torrance’s laughter faded. “Anyhow, after Kaitlin died, Walter and I remembered that stuff we found in the wall. That’s what made us think she’d been done in by some out-of-town sex maniac.”
“From Seattle,” Walter concluded.
“Why Seattle?” Hannah asked.
Torrance snorted. “Not the sort of thing they do in Portland.”
Hannah looked at Rafe.
He shrugged. “The man has a point. You know what they say about those folks up in Seattle.”
She turned back to Walter and Torrance. “You said you told Chief Yates about the videos and the lingerie?”
“Yup, figured it was our civic duty,” Torrance said. “But he told us to keep our mouths shut. Said there was enough gossip goin’ around as it was. Town didn’t need any more.”
“Besides, the stuff was gone when we took the chief to Kaitlin’s house to show it to him,” Walter added. “I don’t think he believed us.”
Rafe frowned. “The lingerie and videos weren’t there when you went back?”
“Nope.” Torrance sighed. “That’s the main reason Walter and me didn’t talk too much about what we’d found. Didn’t have any proof, and Chief Yates said we could get in a lotta trouble if we started spreadin’ false rumors. Right, Walter?”
“Right,” Walter said crisply. “We’re not blabbermouths. But we always thought Kaitlin was murdered by that sex maniac she must have been seein’.” He looked at Rafe. “No offense, but everyone knew she was fooling around with other men.”
“Yes.” Rafe did not look at Hannah. “Even I figured it out. Why do you think the guy who was into the lingerie murdered her?”
“Who knows?” Torrance said.
“Maybe he didn’t like the fact that she had those videos,” Walter said. “Could be they were films of him dressed in the lingerie.”
Rafe’s gaze went to Hannah. She saw the glint of curiosity in his eyes. She didn’t blame him. She was reluctantly fascinated, herself.
“You think this guy from Seattle went back to Kaitlin’s house after he murdered her and stole the lingerie and videos?” Rafe asked.
“Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Walter asked. “He wouldn’t want to leave any evidence around that might point back to him.”
“It’s certainly an interesting theory,” Hannah allowed cautiously.
“That’s all it’ll ever be now,” Walter said. “Kaitlin’s been dead and buried for a long time. No one’s going to reopen that old case. Probably for the best.” He turned with military precision. “Well, you’ll have to excuse us, we’ve got work to do. Don’t we, Torrance?”
“Yup.” Torrance’s head bobbed up and down half a dozen times with great enthusiasm. “Turnin’ this place into an inn with a restaurant attached is gonna be a big project. But you know, it makes a lotta sense. What with the institute and the college and the plans to renovate the old pier and put in more shops, Eclipse Bay is attractin’ a lotta visitors these days. Don’t have many nice places for ’em to stay. Just the motel out on the highway. Way it is now, folks have to drive on up the coast to find a classy place.”
He swung around and lumbered off after his brother.
Hannah waited until both Willises were out of sight. Then she looked at Rafe.
“A sex maniac from Seattle?” she said softly.
“I have a hunch that everyone in town has a personal theory of what happened that night.”
“Frilly lingerie in sizes big enough to fit a man?”
“Don’t look at me.” He held up both hands, palms out. “I never saw any of that stuff.”
“What about the videos?”
He shook his head. “Nope. No videos. Hannah, I only went out with Kaitlin a few times before it became real obvious that she was just amusing herself with me while she hunted for her real meal ticket. I never got to know her well enough to learn about her little quirks and eccentricities.”
“Hmm. You do realize what this means, don’t you?”
He leveled a finger at her. “Nothing. It means absolutely nothing. We only have the Willis brothers’ word on what they found in the wall behind her dryer. And no offense to either Torrance or Walter, but they’re not the most sophisticated guys to come down the pike. I doubt if they’ve been any farther than Portland in their entire lives. What looked like kinky clothing and dirty videos to them might be nothing more than a little late-night entertainment to other folks.”
“Kaitlin wasn’t exactly shy about her own sexual activities. I can’t see her going out of her way to protect the reputations of the men she dated, either. If she went to the trouble of hiding that lingerie and those videos to protect a boyfriend, she must have had big plans for the poor guy.”
Rafe hesitated. “Kaitlin’s supreme goal in life was to marry someone with enough money to help her escape Eclipse Bay.”
“So, maybe this particular boyfriend had money. Maybe she saw him as a hot prospect for marriage.”
“Why hide the undies and the tapes?”
“Who knows? Maybe he was already married. Maybe she wanted to protect him because she was hoping he’d get a divorce and marry her. Maybe—”