Renie grabbed the poker and leaned down. “There’s not
much left, but I see some charred paper clips and those
metal fasteners that hold files together.” She stood up. “You’re
right, maybe Nadia burned the files.”
“Why?” Judith’s dark eyes scanned the room. “Did she
take them from Andrea’s room? Did they include the socalled hooker files? Look, coz,” she continued, pointing back
to the grate, “there’s not a lot of paper in there. Andrea’s
files were two, three inches thick, which is why we didn’t
take time to go through them.”
“Maybe Nadia only wanted to burn certain incriminating
data,” Renie suggested.
“Incriminating to whom?” Judith asked, beginning to pace
the small room.
Renie shrugged. “I don’t know. Herself, maybe. Or whoever killed her.”
“This is wrong,” Judith declared, making a slashing motion
with her hand. “This seems all out of kilter.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Renie admitted.
“I don’t either. That’s the problem.” Judith bit her lower
lip and scowled.
Renie started for the door. “Shall we go break the latest
bad news?”
Judith shook her head. “Not this time.”
“What?” Renie was flabbergasted.
“No. We’ll go back downstairs, as if nothing’s happened.
Let’s see how the rest of them—what’s left of them—react.”
Renie gritted her teeth. “Okay—if you say so. I’m not much
of an actress.”
“You’ll manage,” Judith said dryly. “Just play dumb. I know
you can do that.”
Upon reaching the game room, the cousins discovered a
fragmented contingent. Max Agasias was furiously hurling
darts at a board on the far wall. Ava Aunuu was lying on
the pool table, crying her eyes out. Gene Jarman, Jr., stood
under mounted elk antlers, chewing on his knuckles. The
rest were nowhere in sight. The big windows that ran along
most of one wall showed nothing but snow, a bleak, suffocating sight.
Of the three who remained in the game room, Gene
seemed the most approachable. “What’s going on?” Judith
asked in a hushed voice.
Gene recoiled as if Judith had slapped him. “Nothing,” he
said sharply. “Nothing you need to know.”
Judith backed off. Renie had gone to Ava, gently prodding
her heaving shoulders.
“Go away,” Ava blubbered. “Leave me alone.”
With a puzzled glance for Judith, Renie withdrew. Max
was still throwing darts, going dangerously wide of the target.
Margo entered the lobby from the direction of the women’s
