“I’ve been here a lot,” Renie said, but followed Judith.
“Gene and I were so buddy-buddy that he came with me into
the women’s restroom to empty the water.”
Judith made a quick check of the six stalls; they were vacant. “So what did you find out from Gene?” she asked, entering the stall at the near end of the row.
“He knows we have the pillowcase.”
Judith blinked several times at the closed door. “He does?
And how did he learn that?”
“I don’t know,” Renie responded over the sound of running
tap water. “It was a slip on his part. He said something to
the effect that, ‘Physical evidence consists of more than proof
of foul play.’ Thus, I deduced that he was alluding to the
pillowcase—which you had mentioned to him when you
were in Andrea’s room—and to the fact that we had removed
it.”
Judith emerged from the stall. “Was he guessing? Or did
he know?”
“I don’t think Gene Jarman guesses,” Renie said, drying
her hands on a paper towel. “It’s not his style.”
“Coz,” Judith began, dispensing liquid soap into her palm,
“do you see what that means?”
“Of course. Gene has been in Andrea’s room since you
were there with him. Either he went with someone—or he
went alone,” Renie said with an impish expression.
“Brilliant deduction,” Judith remarked. “So which was it?”
Renie was in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. “I tried
to get a run-down on who he was with at the time of Ward’s
murder. Gene had gone into the library with Ava, but he
was very evasive about how long they were there. It made
me wonder what they were doing. Do you remember yesterday afternoon when we thought we heard somebody in one
of the smaller conference rooms? I’ve noticed a certain intimacy between Gene and Ava. How about you?”
Digging a lipstick out of her shoulder bag, Judith gave
Renie a bemused look. “Why not? They’re single, they make
a good-looking couple. It’s nobody’s business but theirs.
However,” she went on, waving the lipstick at Renie, “they
didn’t stay in the library during that whole critical time
period. Ava came in here with Nadia, and Gene and Russell
were seen talking outside the library. At some
point, they separated, if only for a very brief…”
The pager went off again. Startled, Judith dropped the
lipstick which rolled across the floor and under the fourth
stall. Renie chased the lipstick while Judith checked the pager.
“My number,” she sighed. “Do you suppose Mother is
dead?”
“Not a chance,” Renie replied, crawling around on the
floor. “My guess is that she wants you to go to the store and
bring back a fifty-pound bag of Goo-Goo Clusters. She’s
