Killegrew glowered at her, but said nothing. Indeed, no
one responded until Gene spoke again. “Someone will have
to go up there and check things out. I suppose I should do
it, since I’m the legal counsel.” He grimaced, then uttered a
choked little laugh. “Max, would you come along? We’d
better stick to the buddy system.”
Max, however, demurred. “I already helped cart Leon upstairs, for which the cops are going to jump me. Count me
out on this one.”
“Remember,” said Russell in a small voice, “I’m squeamish.”
“I wouldn’t go near that room for a billion dollars,” Margo
declared.
“I’ll go.” Judith was so surprised by her impulsive announcement that she hardly recognized her own voice.
“I don’t think that’s a…” Ward began.
“Good idea,” interrupted Killegrew. “It’s probably smart
to have an outsider on hand for something like this.”
and put her foot into it. As a flummoxed Renie watched,
Judith accompanied Gene to the elevator.
“This might not be pleasant,” Gene said as they moved up
to the second floor.
“I’ve done it before,” Judith said without thinking.
“Of course. Leon. And Barry.” Mournfully, Gene shook
his head.
“Yes,” Judith agreed hastily. “Leon and Barry.” It wouldn’t
do to enumerate a few other corpses she’d stumbled across
in the past.
The door to Andrea’s room was wide open. Judith quickly
calculated that it was the same room she and Renie had first
tried the previous night. As they had guessed, Andrea had
been waiting for Leon in his room.
Gene stepped aside to let Judith enter first. She found
herself tiptoeing, but stopped abruptly when she saw Andrea
lying peacefully on the bed. The dead woman could have
been asleep; only her head and shoulders were exposed.
Andrea was on her back, with the silver hair splayed out on
the pillow. Her plump face seemed blotchy, perhaps bruised.
Remembering that Andrea was a fellow Catholic, Judith
crossed herself and said a silent prayer.
“Poor woman,” Gene said softly. “Suicide’s such a desperate act.”
Judith turned sharply. “It is. Andrea didn’t strike me as a
desperate woman.”
“You never know what people are really like,” Gene remarked, coming around to study the nightstand that stood
between the twin beds. “Ah—here’s the note and the empty
pill bottle. Halcion, made out to Andrea Piccoloni-Roth last
month. It’s a popular prescription sleeping drug, I believe.”
