being poisoned?”
“We’d have keeled over by now,” Ward said, but he closely
inspected his ham.
“I don’t feel so good,” Russell said, and spit out a strawberry.
“Don’t be silly,” Margo remonstrated. “You’re imagining
things.”
“We have to eat to keep up our strength,” Killegrew declared. “Look at me, I’m not afraid.” He took a big bite out
of his sandwich to prove the point.
Judith returned to the kitchen. A few minutes later, after
the cousins had eaten their own turkey sandwiches, she
suggested that they check out Andrea’s room.
Renie grimaced. “Must we?”
“It’ll be okay. Gene covered Andrea with a sheet. We might
as well do it now. When I went into the dining room the
last time, it didn’t look as if anybody intended to stir for a
while.”
The cousins used the back stairs. As they’d guessed, Andrea’s door was unlocked. Upon entering, Judith and Renie
both paused, lost in morbid thought.
“Gruesome,” Renie whispered, gazing at the figure in the
bed.
Judith was examining the extra pillow, which had been
turned over to show the cosmetics smudges. “Andrea had
put on fresh makeup for Leon and some of it had gotten
smeared when she found out he was dead. But I knew there’d
be enough left to make a mark on the pillowcase. This is a
vital piece of evidence. I hate to see it left lying out in the
open with an unlocked door.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Renie said faintly.
Judith folded her arms across her bosom. “I would, if I
thought it would help convict a killer.”
“Aren’t we in enough trouble already?”
“Not quite.” Gingerly, Judith slipped the case off the pillow.
“Oh, great!” Renie reeled around the room, accidentally
knocking Andrea’s briefcase off a shelf by the bathroom door.
Hastily, she bent down to pick it up.
“Keep that briefcase,” Judith ordered.
Renie stared. “You
“Endangered, not deranged. You said so yourself.” Judith
began to pull out drawers, then go through the small closet.
“We’re buying life insurance,” she said, opening Andrea’s
suitcase. “We’re taking whatever evidence we can find and
we’re going to stash it and then we’re going to threaten the
OTIOSE crew.”
“Good grief.” Renie had sat down on the spare twin
bed. “What with? Margo’s gun, which we’ll wrestle away
from her in a dazzling display of martial arts?”
“No, of course not.” Finding nothing of interest in the
