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it’s virtually meaningless, Devlin. 
Celeste Datello lives on Hennessey Island, in the penthouse suite
of her husband’s hotel, spa and casino resort.  One of his
employees could’ve made the call from the hotel lobby for all we
know.  On top of that, how is this invitation to register for
baby gifts deemed a death threat?”
    Crevan chuckled, “Because Celeste Datello
would probably rather die than register at some local mom and pop
store for anything her child would use.”
    “ And I’m the one who can’t
hear?” Devlin scoffed.  “Jesus Christ, Crevan.  Could it
be anymore blatant?  Listen to what this woman is
saying.”  He rewound the tape and pressed play.
    “ Mrs. Datello, this is
Estelle from Sullivan’s Boutique in Darkwater.  We’re calling
to confirm that you’ve registered for your daughter’s baby
shower.  We have a number of items already gifted to your
daughter.  Please call at your earliest convenience so we can
make sure we’ve got the correct address for delivery.”
    “ And I don’t hear a damned
thing in that message that sounds remotely threatening,” Crevan
said.
    “ Hold on,” I stared hard
at Devlin.  “How much have you been studying the case file
against Datello, Devlin?”
    “ Enough to know that there
are three distinct things that jump out of this
message.”
    “ Go on,” I
said.
    “ Estelle was Datello’s mother’s name.  Her brother
is Sullivan Marcos.  And she doesn’t leave a phone number for
Celeste to call back.  She just wants to confirm that they’ve
got the right address.”
    “ Hmm,” I frowned. 
“Good points.  Has anybody bothered to call this boutique and
find out if one of their employees is named Estelle?”
    “ We’ve been going over
this tape for an hour, Helen.  Have you seen either one of us
make any phone calls?”
    “ Don’t be a smart ass,
Devlin,” I said. 
    He slid the phone on the table toward
me.  “Be my guest, wise one.”
    I dialed directory information. 
“Darkwater Bay.  Sullivan’s Boutique.” 
    The near robotic voice responded.  Her
words drifted through the speaker on the phone and left silence in
her wake.  “I’m sorry ma’am.  There is no such listing
for Darkwater Bay.”
    “ Thank you,” I
said.
    “ Are you sure that’s the
name of the store?”
    “ Positive.”  I
disconnected.  “Well it certainly would’ve saved a load of
time and debate if we’d checked to see if there was even such a
store in Darkwater Bay an hour ago.”
    “ Then you see this as a
credible threat now?” Devlin asked.
    “ I don’t hear this alleged
death threat,” I said.  “Then again, Sully wouldn’t want to be
obvious.  Asking her to call to confirm an address and not
leaving a number to call, yeah,” I mused.  “I can see now why
she might’ve felt threatened by that.  Sort of a subtle
message that they already knew where she was.”
    “ See?” Devlin shot a
defiant glare at Crevan.
    “ Why are you so up in arms
over this?  His wife had to know what a scumbag she married,”
Crevan said.
    Devlin glanced at me, at my burning
cheeks.
    “ Did she really,
Crevan?  You’ve never met anyone married to a criminal that
was completely in the dark about who he really was and what he was
doing on the side of his legitimate business?”
    “ Ah hell,” Crevan
muttered.  ”I’m sorry, Helen.  That came out completely
wrong.”
    “ No,” I said.  “It
came out exactly the way people think.  Devlin’s right, and
don’t mistake my silence for feeling lumped into the same category
as Celeste Datello.  I feel guilty because I was thinking the
exact same thing from the moment Datello’s lawyer alleged these
threats in court this morning.  Shame on me for assuming that
she knew she married a corrupt man.  Believe me, I should’ve
known better than anybody else how adept they are at hiding the
truth when it suits their purposes.”
    “ Hey, don’t beat yourself
up too hard,” Crevan