cake.”
Everyone stared, and someone snickered. Judith thought
it was Margo. “He went back down almost immediately,”
Andrea said, ignoring the stares and the snicker. “I suppose
that was around ten-thirty-five.”
Another silence followed. The wind no longer howled in
the chimney, and the room was very still. Judith turned to
look outside. She could see nothing but blackness. Perhaps
the storm was finally passing.
“I went right to bed,” Max finally said.
“So did I,” Margo asserted.
“Me, too,” Ward chimed in.
“What else was there to do?” Nadia asked, though she
darted a quick look at Andrea.
“It’d been a long day,” Gene allowed. “I headed straight
for the tub.”
“I read for a few minutes,” Ava said, pulling up the high
collar of her flannel nightgown. “Then I watched the storm
through the window.”
“I went over my notes for tomorrow’s session,” Killegrew
recalled. “We start at nine, with breakfast at eight.”
To Judith’s surprise, no one protested the announcement.
Nadia, however, sagged in her place on the sofa. “I haven’t
checked the food supplies,” she said in apology. “I’m not
sure what…”
“We’ll do the meals,” Judith volunteered. “We might as
well make ourselves useful.”
“Thank you!” Nadia’s slim shoulders slumped in relief.
“Ordinarily, it would be no problem, but so much has
happened, and it’s getting so late, and I…”
“Now, now,” Killegrew said, “don’t be so hard on yourself.
Even I can put a piece of toast in the breader. I mean, bread
in the toaster. Ha-ha!”
The few responding laughs were feeble. As before, Killegrew led the first elevator flight, with Ward, Gene, and
this time, Margo. Ava had held back, taking Nadia by the
arm. The two women spoke briefly, then Nadia joined the
others by the elevator.
“She’s worn out,” Ava said in a low voice. “I told her I’d
clean this stuff up. I’m kind of wired anyway.”
“I thought you were tired,” Renie said.
Ava watched Russell, Nadia, Andrea, and Max get into
the elevator. “I am, but I don’t think I could sleep. It just
didn’t seem to me that we were getting anywhere. Gene’s
first idea was better. What’s the point in asking all these
questions? This isn’t a game of Clue, it’s real life.”
“You’re right,” Judith noted as the three women began
collecting the dirty glasses. “Nobody has a real alibi. But of
course they didn’t mention what happened a year ago. Do
