drained of color except for a touch of blush on each cheek.
“This isn’t the Mafia, this is the phone company!”
Neither Judith nor Renie responded immediately. Finally,
Renie spoke up. “The others have to be told. Are you up to
it, Andrea?”
Andrea frowned, appeared to concentrate, then slumped
back against the pillows. “No. In fact, I’d like to be left
alone.”
There was no choice. Judith and Renie went back into the
corridor. They had barely shut the door behind them when
Renie grabbed Judith by the arm. “Coz! That’s not Andrea’s
room! Didn’t you notice that there were no female-type items
anywhere? When I went into the bathroom, there was a
man’s shaving kit.” In her excitement, Renie’s voice had
started to rise. She quickly lowered her tone, and glanced
around to make sure no one had heard her. “There was also
a prescription for allergies,” she whispered. “It was made out
to Leon Mooney.”
Judith usually wasn’t so unobservant. But between the
shock of finding Leon’s body and trying to cope with Andrea,
she simply hadn’t noticed the absence of feminine articles.
“She was wearing makeup,” Judith said, then grimaced.
“You think she was having an affair with
“It’s possible. Men and women possess strange attractions
for each other that are sometimes hard for the rest of us to
fathom.” Renie pointed to the door where they’d gotten no
response. “I’ll bet that’s Andrea’s room. She was in his,
waiting for him. Maybe…” Renie paused and swallowed
hard. “Maybe he was bringing them both a piece of cake.”
“Is Andrea married or divorced?” Judith asked, still marveling at the thought of an amorous Leon Mooney.
“Married,” Renie responded, beginning to pace the corridor. “Her husband, Alan Roth, is an unemployed com-
puter genius. You know the type.” Renie raised her eyebrows.
“I know the unemployed part, but the genius eludes me,”
Judith replied just as Ward Haugland poked his head out of
the door directly across from them.
“What’s going on out here?” he demanded, exhibiting
uncharacteristic testiness. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”
Renie, who disliked being snapped at under any circumstances, turned sharply. “Leon Mooney’s been murdered.
Pleasant dreams, Ward.”
bellow.
Renie had turned her back on the executive vice president,
but perceiving what appeared to be both shock and horror
on his face, Judith took pity. “It’s true, Mr. Haugland. We
found his body in the kitchen about half an hour ago. Do
you think you could tell the others?”
There was no need. Doors were now opening on both
sides of the corridor. Margo, Max, Gene, Russell, Ava, Nadia,
and finally Frank Killegrew all peered out of their respective
