stubbed out her cigarette, lit another, and jiggled her left leg up and down.
'Just the one guard, Corrigan? Surely somebody like your dad had better protection than that.'
'Well, sure. The whole place is wired for security,' He pointed upwards. 'Cameras all over the place. The guard didn't even have to patrol, just watch the video monitors.'
'When did you four come to pick up Mr. Taylor?'
'About nine-thirty. Ev and I went down to get Shirl and Beth just after dinner, and we came straight here.'
Quill addressed both girls. 'How far away do you guys live?'
'Shirl's here for the weekend, at Beth's house,' Corrigan said.
'Is your house here, Beth?'
'I live in Juno,' the blonde in black said sullenly. 'Why the fuck do you want to know, anyway?'
'Officer!' The shout came from the part of the house where Meg had gone. Quill jumped to her feet.
'Officer!'
'That's Meg!' Quill said.
'She must be in the kitchen,' Corrigan said. 'What the hell?'
Quill ran ahead of the others to the east wing archway, skidding on the floor in her high-heeled shoes. 'Meg? Meg!'
'Down there,' Corrigan said from behind her. 'Take a right. The kitchen's beyond the solarium.'
Two policemen ran past Quill, their guns drawn, Ange in the lead. 'You civilians stay back,' he ordered.
'That's my sister,' Quill said, and then immediately felt silly. She dropped back behind the cops and followed them into the kitchen. Verger Taylor's baroque tastes hadn't stopped with his pink-marble living room. This area was almost exclusively black granite and cherrywood, At first glance, there appeared to be no appliances at all, just a huge granite-topped island in the center of the floor. Meg was standing at it, her arm around a cowering, terrified maid.
'Maria was locked in the pantry,' she said.
'You let her out?' Ange demanded.
'Of course I let her out. She was kicking her heels against the door, poor thing.'
'She was tied up?'
'With clothes line and duct tape,' Meg said. She pointed to the detritus on the floor. 'It's all right there.'
'You,' said Ange sternly. 'Don't leave. I'm giving myself a good hard think about arresting you for interfering with evidence.' He scowled. 'Step away from the witness, ma'am.'
Meg saluted smartly. 'Yes, sir, officer, sir.'
Quill gave an exasperated tcha! and pulled Meg aside. She looked for an appropriately secure place to yell at her sister and found one in the maid's room. It was just off the kitchen, next to what Quill realized was a set of triple ovens concealed by cherry paneling. She shoved Meg into the room. It was small, with a neatly made twin bed, wicker chest, a print of the Scared Heart on the wall, and a small television set. Quill closed the door firmly and sat down on the bed. Meg prowled restlessly around the room. 'Good idea, Meg, pissing off the police.'
A look familiar to Quill - mulish in the extreme - spread over Meg's face.
'You know why it's not a good idea to piss off the police? Because if you get arrested, you can't present your potted rabbit at the banquet on Friday. And good-bye third star.'
Meg's face cleared. 'You've got a point.'
'Of course I've got a point. Now what did that poor maid tell you before you called us in?'
'I called you in right away,' Meg said indignantly. 'I know you, Meg. You grabbed the chance to question her, didn't you? What'd she say?'
'That she didn't know anything was happening until she heard the glass door smash.'
'Did she know what time that was?'
'About six-thirty.'
'Good Lord. That's just after we met him. This must have happened just after we left.'
'I know. It's horrible.'
'Is she sure about the time?'
'How should I know? Anyhow, she ran to the living room, thinking maybe a seagull had hit the door or something.'
'A seagull?'
'She said it's happened before. And she said the security alarm hadn't gone off. The whole place is wired, Quill. The robbers must have disconnected it somehow.'
'You're making a highly speculative assumption that they were robbers, Meg.'
'No, I'm not. I'll tell you why in a minute. Anyhow, Maria said she thought a seagull came through the glass.'
