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look like a surfer dude. It wasn’t much more dignified, but at least it was considerably more modest. “The guidebook was right. The snorkeling behind the hotel is fabulous! I had a terrific day on the beach. But I’ve got to take a shower before we—”
    His expression suddenly changed. “What’s wrong, Jess? Your face is almost as white as that towel.”
    Somberly, I said, “Something really awful just happened. While I was in the shower, somebody broke into our room.”
    â€œOh, my God!” he cried. “Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” I assured him.
    â€œWhat did they take? Our cash? Our credit cards?”
    â€œOur money and credit cards are untouched. So is my jewelry.”
    Nick glanced around the room and frowned. “If your cash and credit cards are safe, how can you be sure somebody even broke in? I mean, look at what a mess this place is. We weren’t exactly careful about unpacking. We just threw our shirts and underwear into a couple of drawers.”
    â€œBecause something
is
missing: the packet of booklets I got when I registered for the veterinary conference.”
    He looked at me as if I’d just sprung a couple of additional heads. “Why would anybody take that?”
    â€œA very good question, and there’s only one answer: because they
thought
they were taking the envelope Marnie Burton left here yesterday. Especially since both envelopes had an audiocassette inside. You didn’t even have to open mine to know that, since it was so stuffed you could feel the tape from the outside. Whoever took it must have grabbed the envelope, felt the tape, and run off without bothering to check inside.”
    Nick now looked as if I’d sprung five or six more heads. “Jess, I don’t know where this business about Marnie Burton and the envelope she left here is coming from. No offense, but it sounds kind of off-the-wall. That aside, I’m sure if you explain to the people at the registration desk that you misplaced the conference materials they gave you, they’d be happy to—”
    â€œBut I
didn’t
misplace them! Somebody broke into our hotel room and took that envelope! And once they figure out that they didn’t get what they wanted, they might be back.”
    By this point, Nick’s expression made it clear that he was exercising all the patience he possessed—and that he was on the verge of running out. “Look, it sounds as if you really believe that’s what happened. But think about it, Jess. How likely is it that someone would go to all the trouble of breaking into a hotel room—in broad daylight, no less, while somebody was clearly in the bathroom, taking a shower—then steal nothing besides an envelope? You said yourself that our cash and other valuables were untouched.”
    I didn’t answer. I was too busy ruminating about the obvious answer: because there was something on Marnie’s audiotape that somebody wanted to keep a secret.
    Maybe even something worth killing over.
    â€œI’m going to stop at the front desk and have our room changed,” I told Nick soberly. “And then I think I’d better talk to the police.”
    â€œAnd tell them what? That you—” He stopped himself. “Okay. Here’s my cell phone.”
    I cleared my throat, bracing myself for the reaction I knew my next statement was going to elicit. “Actually, I think I’d like to go down to the police station and talk to them in person.”
    Nick threw out his arms in exasperation. “Jessie, are you
kidding
? You’re honestly telling me that you plan to waste the rest of the afternoon talking to the police about a missing envelope that you’re not even sure was taken?”
    I didn’t point out that
I
was sure.
He
was the one who wasn’t sure.
    Instead, I simply replied, “That’s right.”
    â€œAnd how do you propose to