Russell can’t be much over five-eight.”
“Margo’s no taller than that,” Renie noted, regaining her
balance. “What if Ward was sitting down?”
“Where?” Judith looked around. The armchairs were at
the other side of the room.
Renie pointed to the space between the windows. “On the
honor bar. Heck, anywhere. Whoever killed him must have
had to push him out the window.”
“That indicates strength,” Judith said, running her hands
through her hair which had gotten quite wet while she hung
out of the window. “Oh, shoot—we’ve been through all
this. An adrenaline rush can accomplish just about anything.”
Renie was heading for the door. “I’ve had a good time,
but this wasn’t it,” she said. “Let’s finish our fruitless search.”
“Okay,” sighed Judith, then stopped next to the bureau.
“Did you see this?”
“What?” Renie sounded impatient.
Judith bent down. “It’s some kind of pin. You must have
knocked it loose when you fell against the bureau. It says,
‘Bell System—twenty-five years service.’”
Renie examined the pin and nodded. “So who has twentyfive years of service before coming to OTIOSE? Ward comes
to mind. It’s probably his.”
Judith’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. “Oh, well. I
was hoping it would point to somebody else.” She took the
pin from Renie and placed it on the bureau.
It didn’t surprise the cousins to find that Margo had locked
her door. Nadia’s was open, however. Unlike the other
rooms, hers was cluttered. Clothes, cosmetics, notebooks,
paperbacks, perfume, and enough lingerie to last through an
arctic winter filled every nook and cranny. But none of it
seemed pertinent to the murders.
“This must be Frank’s room,” Judith said, nodding at the
door next to Nadia’s.
It was also unlocked, and if not cluttered, it was messy.
Frank Killegrew was obviously not a man who was used to
looking after himself. The bed was unmade, the cap was off
the toothpaste tube, the sink was full of whiskers. But except
for evidence of being spoiled, the cousins found nothing.
“That’s it,” Renie declared. “We flunked. I think I’ll go
downstairs and smoke a lot.”
Judith started to trudge after Renie to the elevator, then
called to her cousin to wait up. “Leon—we forgot about him.”
“He’s eminently forgettable,” Renie responded. “Alas, poor
Leon.”
The room was unlocked. The bed, where Andrea had
waited for the man who never came to share his angel food
cake, was still in disarray. The extra pillow, which Judith
