“Yes.” Judith’s mind was racing. On the other bed lay the
extra pillow, which had been removed from under the spread.
“What do you think of that note?” Judith asked, coming
around to join Gene.
The company attorney kept his hands carefully pressed
against his sides. “It’s clear, isn’t it?”
“In what way?” Judith queried.
Judging from the scowl on Gene’s face, he didn’t like being
on the other end of questions. “Andrea couldn’t live without
Leon. What else could it mean?”
Judith said nothing. She stared again at the pillow on the
empty bed. “Where’s the water glass?” she asked.
“What water glass?” Gene sounded annoyed.
Judith pointed to the pill bottle. “There’s no sign of a glass
on the nightstand. Why would anyone take a bunch of
sleeping tablets without water?” Judith didn’t wait for a response, but went into the bathroom. “The glass is in here,”
she called. “Two glasses, in fact. One’s clean, the other has
a bit of water in the bottom.”
Gene had moved to the bathroom door. The scowl was
gone, but he looked puzzled. “What’s your point?”
A sudden, paralyzing fear gripped Judith. She didn’t know
Gene Jarman. He seemed like a diligent, somewhat stiffnecked man who had brought himself up by the bootstraps.
Yet his very success was evidence of not just ambition and
determination, but perhaps ruthlessness as well. The same
might be said of all the OTIOSE executives. And one of them
was a killer. It could be Eugene Jarman, Jr.
“Nothing,” Judith said in a careless voice. “I was just
speculating.”
“Is there anything unusual in the bathroom?” he inquired,
gazing around the small but economical space.
“No.” Judith started to come back into the other room;
Gene stepped aside. “Have you noticed anything we should
report on?” Judith asked in an unusually meek voice.
Gene didn’t answer right away. He was standing at the
foot of the bed, staring morosely at Andrea. “She was a nice
woman, if you didn’t cross swords with her. Then she could
be a real tiger.” He moved between the beds. “I shouldn’t do
this, but I feel I must.” Carefully, he lifted the sheet and pulled
it over Andrea’s face.
“That’s…better,” Judith said, relieved that Gene hadn’t
suggested they move Andrea upstairs with Leon. “Finished?”
Gene said he was. In silence, they returned to the lobby.
The brandy bottles had been emptied, replaced by gin,
rum, vodka, and whiskey. The mood, however, was scarcely
festive. When Judith got out of the elevator, she noticed the
look of relief on Renie’s face.
“I think we should make more coffee,” Renie whispered.
“These people are going to need it once they kill all the
