“And I’ll become dear old prune-faced Professor Cade, Mary Baldwin’s faculty eccentric. I’ll have my students over for tea and spirited political discussions. I’ll author a definitive text or two. When I retire, they’ll name a building after me. I’ll certainly be in a position to leave them a lot of money. Just think how many thousands of dollars a year I will no longer be spending to inject toxins into my face.” Carly broke off, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, you’re trying to take my witness statement and I’m carrying on like a lunatic.”
“You’re not doing anything of the sort. Was anyone else with you out there on the observation deck?”
“Not a soul.”
“Do you know where Aaron was at the time?”
“Why, what did he say?”
“Carly, the format we’re searching for here is I ask the questions and you answer them, okay?”
“Acky was in our room, I think.”
“But you don’t know this for sure?”
“I don’t know anything. I was coming back inside when I heard Hannah scream. She was standing right here in the hall outside of Ada’s room.”
“Can you recall exactly where Aaron was at that moment?”
“He was out here in the hall with Hannah and Spence.”
“He got here before you?”
“Well, yes.”
“Interesting,” Des said, because this directly contradicted what Aaron had just told her. One of them was lying. Or, possibly, mistaken. Witnesses often remembered a sequence of events differently. It could mean something. It could mean nothing. “Let’s talk about last night, Carly. Can you describe how your night was for me?”
“It was long,” she said, letting out a humorless laugh. “Put yourself in my position, Des. My unfaithful husband is lying there next to me. His humid young whore is parked in bed across the hall, waiting for him to make passionate love to her. I didn’t drop off for a single second. I was too busy waiting to catch those two in the act.”
“And did you?”
“No, I didn’t. Aaron stayed in our bed all night. He never got up once.”
“What about the other nights since you folks arrived here?”
“He hasn’t dared. He grabs what he can when he thinks it’s safe, like when I caught the two of them kissing out on the observation deck yesterday. But he’s slept straight through the night every night. I can tell by his breathing. It’s deep and steady. When he’s awake, it’s much shallower and more ragged.”
“Sounds like you’ve made a real study of it.”
“When you’re married to a man like Acky, you become a pulmonary specialist, believe me.”
“Oh, I believe you,” Des said, wondering if Carly was being even remotely straight with her. Wondering if she’d lie to protect her husband. If she’d kill for him. What if all was not as it appeared to be? What if Aaron’s fling with Hannah, Carly’s little vanishing act last evening, the ladies’ lounge histrionics-what if all of that was a ploy to throw off suspicion? What if Aaron and Carly were, in actuality, doing just fine together? So fine that they’d teamed up to commit these murders? “Last night, Carly, is there any chance that you yourself dropped off for a little while?”
“No chance at all,” Carly answered crisply. “I was awake all night hashing over my new life plan. I’ve come up with my three top priorities. Number one is to rid myself of my humiliating, debasing marriage.”
“And the other two?”
“Quit smoking and start researching a new book. I need to sink my teeth into some solid work. Work is the best man cure I know. Other than starting over with another man, of course. And that’s not going to happen. Not for a good, long while. This time, I’m taking care of me.”
“Carly, did you happen to get up in the night? Perhaps slip out for a quick smoke?”
“Not a chance. I couldn’t. I’m afraid of the dark, you see. Always have been.”
“Did you hear anyone else slip out? Footsteps out here in the hall? Doors opening or closing? Because if you were awake all night…”
“I was, I swear.”
“Then you’re in a real position to help me. Think hard, please. This is important.”
Carly considered this for a moment, her eyes lingering on the sealed doors to rooms one and three. “You’re wondering about Norma, I imagine. If Norma got up, I didn’t hear her. But her room is right here next to the stairs. We’re over in five.”
“Ada was right next door to you. Did you hear her get up?”
“I’m sorry, no. I can’t help you with that.”
Des wasn’t sure whether to buy this or not. While it was true that she herself had easily heard Les open and close the door to room ten from room one, it was also true that Les had not been making any effort to keep quiet. In the middle of the night, Norma and Ada doubtless would have.
“But I’ll tell you what I did hear.” Now Carly lowered her voice. “I heard somebody moving around upstairs.”
Des frowned at her. “What do you mean, upstairs?”
“I mean, up on the third floor,” she said, gazing up at the ceiling. “I heard the floorboards creak in the night. Someone was up there.”
“Doing what?”
“Besides walking around? I truly can’t imagine.”
“But there’s no one staying up on the third floor, is there?”
“Not a soul. During the off-season, they close it off to save on fuel.”
“Any idea what time it was when you heard these footsteps?”
“Two, possibly three in the morning.”
Des weighed this, baffled. Why would anyone have been wandering around up there in the middle of the night during a power outage? “And you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
“Positive,” Carly insisted. “My ears could have been playing tricks on me. It was a stormy night, and old places like this creak like crazy in the wind. Maybe that’s all it was. Or maybe it was mice. But you asked me what I heard…”
“And you heard creaking floorboards.” Des glanced up at the ceiling doubtfully. “Anything else?”
“No,” said Carly, the tip of her tongue flicking delicately at her lips. “Not unless you count the lovemakers.”
Des cleared her throat, well aware that she and Mitch had gotten more than a little bit busy last night. “Which lovemakers?”
“The ones next door in Spence’s room.”
“Spence had a woman in his room last night?”
“I’m assuming it was a woman. I don’t think he’s gay. Mind you, one never knows for sure.”
“Well, who was she?”
“I have no idea.”
Des had very little doubt. It had to have been Hannah. After all, she and Spence had known each other for years from the studio’s internship program. The only question was whether they were longtime lovers or if this was something new. And it was a mighty important question, because if the two of them went back a ways, then it was entirely possible that they were the ones who were behind these killings. Only why would they take out Norma and Ada? What was in it for them? “Exactly what did you hear, Carly?”
“The usual moaning and panting. I don’t have to act it out for you, do I?”
“Not necessary. You’re sure this was coming from Spence’s room?”
“Positive.”
“Had you heard the woman go into his room sometime earlier?”
Carly stared at her blankly. “Now that you mention it, no.”
Downstairs, the piano had fallen silent. The sudden quiet that descended upon the castle was almost eerie.
“But she could have gone in there while everyone was getting settled in for the night,” Carly suggested.
