“Exactly. Then we get to fact number four—which isn’t
really a fact, but a conjecture.” Judith gave Renie an apologetic look. “The extra pillow that I’d put under Andrea was
lying on the empty twin bed. Now it’s possible that she removed the pillow herself. But I’m thinking that she came
back to her room and simply flopped onto the bed. Under
the circumstances, wouldn’t you? She was worn out, she
was upset, she very well may have taken Halcion to help
herself sleep. Why remove the pillow?”
“She didn’t.” Renie’s face was expressionless.
“Of course she didn’t,” Judith continued, “because…”
“Because she wasn’t in Leon’s room.”
“What?” Judith made a face at Renie.
“You said so yourself.” Renie lifted her hands, palms up.
“The water glass and the pillow you’re talking about were
in Leon’s room, not Andrea’s. So what are you trying to
say?”
Judith looked blank, then exhilarated. “What I was saying
all along. Except that now I’m sure I’m right. The
twin bed. Andrea didn’t die from an overdose of sleeping
pills. She was smothered.”
Judith and Renie weren’t sure how to break the news to
the others. It hadn’t seemed to Judith that Gene Jarman was
suspicious. On the other hand, he wasn’t the type to reveal
what he was thinking. As the cousins made fresh coffee, they
mulled over the problem.
“Andrea must have let in whoever killed her,” Renie pointed out, running water from the tap into the urn.
“Of course she would,” Judith agreed. “Despite Leon’s
death, she must have trusted whoever came to her door.”
“Which could be anybody,” Renie noted. “The only person
she really seemed on the outs with was Margo.”
“Andrea had probably already taken the Halcion,” Ju-
dith said, opening the kitchen door for Renie, who was carrying the urn back to the dining room. “She was probably
drowsy. Maybe whoever called on her offered to sit with her
until she nodded off. Then he—or she—applied the pillow.”
Judith winced. “I thought her face looked sort of bruised, but
then I don’t know what effects an overdose of Halcion has
on a person.”
“I don’t know, either,” Renie admitted, plugging in the
urn. “Didn’t somebody say they heard noises during the
night?”
Judith stared at Renie. “You’re right. It was Margo. She
thought someone was trying to get into her room. I’ll bet
Leon was on one side of Andrea’s room and Margo was on
the other.”
“That’s right,” Renie responded. “I saw Margo come from
that room last night when everybody heard the commotion.”
The cousins gazed at each other. “Shall we?” Judith finally
said.
