"Why would he take the fountain pen?" Fred asked, checking his notes.
"It wasn't the only fountain pen in the world," Cynthia said. "Maybe the Shiptons had a matched pair, like his and hers? I can't see why the fact that he used a pen would send you dashing up to the ice park and half kill yourself."
Dean cringed at this first admonition for his impulsive actions. "Don't give me hell just yet darling," he said with a smile, patting her arm. "The pen was just too much of a coincidence. That and the key to Bird Song. The key told me Shipton could have been here that night. The noise at the locked front door I heard when Edith was in my room wasn't Franny going out for a smoke as I'd assumed at the time. It was Shipton sneaking in. Of course it wasn't Franny. How stupid could I be? All she was wearing was her underwear a little while later when she ran up the stairs when Edith's body was discovered. Even if modesty wasn't at the top of Franny's traits-list, it was January! Even the most ardent smoker wouldn't be outside in those skimpy duds."
"That may be a neat theory," Fred said, "but it ain't proof. Not by a long shot. Just because Shipton had a key don't mean he used it. Besides, he was back in Virginia when Edith died."
"We never considered Shipton might not have left town until after Edith died," Dean answered. "Jake Weller told us he had difficulty locating Shipton to inform him of Edith's death. He finally spoke with him at the airport. Shipton hadn't left town the day he checked out of the hospital. He waited until the following day, after he killed his wife."
Cynthia turned to him. "There was no reason to care when Shipton left town, was there? No one ever considered it because it wasn't important. Edith's death wasn't murder. The suicide note cut off any reason for investigation."
"Right," Dean answered.
"I don't understand," Cynthia continued, a perplexed look on her face. "If Shipton did kill Edith as you say, how did he get her to leave a suicide note?"
"Think about the missing pen," he answered.
"What was so important about the pen?"
"Think about the ink. The suicide note was written in blue ink. The pen has black ink in it now. That's the color of the ink on the check Shipton signed."
Fred looked as bewildered as Cynthia. "So?"
"Able Whitehouse, the guy we spoke to back in Virginia gave us the clue, only we didn't realize it. Edith Shipton had attempted suicide once before, after her stepson drowned in her presence. Had she written a suicide note then? Probably. Who might still have that note? Her husband! What a perfect way to kill someone when they've conveniently given you a suicide note indisputably in their handwriting!" Cynthia and Fred began to nod their heads, understanding what Dean was saying.