on the phone just before I went upstairs looking for
Winifred. She lives a good four miles from here.”
“What did this person look like?” Joe asked, all
business.
“Why . . .” Eugenia paused. “Like a cleaning
woman. Which is who she said she was. Gray-haired,
thin, homely.”
Oddly enough, the description fit Phyliss Rackley.
But that was impossible. Ignoring her hip, Judith
jumped up. “Where is she now?”
“How do I know?” Eugenia shot back. “She went
upstairs just before the others came down to breakfast.”
“Christ!” Joe took off at a run, apparently heading
for the back stairs. The sound of water thundered overhead. Through the big bay window, Judith could see
two firefighters climbing up to the roof.
“Oh, no!” she wailed. “My poor B&B! It’s ruined!”
It was only then that she realized the fire wasn’t the
only thing that had laid waste to Room One. So overcome with shock and fear had Judith been at the time,
she had failed to take in the more minor damage.
Winifred’s room had been ransacked.
*
*
*
Joe returned a few minutes later with Dilys Oaks.
Judith realized that it was the young policewoman’s
voice she had recognized earlier.
“Nothing,” Joe said, out of breath. “We couldn’t
find any trace of the so-called cleaning woman.”
Judith turned to Eugenia, who had just finished a
call on her cell phone. “Did you notice a car outside
when you let this woman in?”
“A car?” Eugenia looked indignant. “How could I?
It’s too foggy to see past the front steps. I don’t know
when I’ve been in such a miserable place. Except
Croatia, perhaps.”
“Look here,” Judith said, her temper flaring, “you
were the one who admitted this woman. Why didn’t
you let me open the door?”
“You weren’t here,” Eugenia retorted. “Neither was
your husband. Besides, your cleaning woman had a
key. Apparently, she was having trouble turning it.”
Judith frowned. She must have been in the toolshed
with her mother. Maybe Joe had gone to the bathroom.
It wasn’t really fair to blame Eugenia for the disaster.
If, Judith suddenly thought, Eugenia was telling the
truth. As for the key, perhaps the intruder was faking it.
