Vinnie nodded eagerly.
“Coolio,” Suzie said, and settled into her corner of the couch.
“We’ll start with the night of Layla’s murder,” Derek said. “You were in your classroom, correct?”
“Yes. The signatures had dried and we were hammering the spines to round them.”
“Fine,” he said, hunkering down in front of me and resting his hands on my knees. “Close your eyes, darling, and think back. Who was in the building that night?”
I thought of Naomi and Karalee, Marky and Ned. Minka was back from the hospital, although I didn’t see her until later. I assumed all her students were there with her.
“Now, you’re in your class,” Derek murmured. “Can you see it?”
After a moment of concentration, I could picture my classroom, the students, the smell of PVA glue.
“Now, where were you standing?” Derek asked.
I answered him, and we went back and forth. What tool was in my hand? Who else was in the room? Picture the students. Go around the room and name them. I did as he instructed.
“Now you hear the gunshot,” he said. “Who’s in the room with you now?”
“All of my students,” I said, then frowned. “No, wait. Cynthia Hardesty had left to make a phone call. And Alice had to run to the bathroom. And Gina . . . no, Whitney. No, wait. They’re both in the room. They scream and huddle under the table.”
“What else?”
“Kylie isn’t there. Did she go to the ladies’ room? And I can’t see Jennifer. But she’s probably there. She’s quiet.” I sighed. “That’s all I can remember.”
“So, to recap,” Derek said, glancing at his own notes. “Cynthia, Kylie, and Alice were out of the room when the gunshot went off.”
I closed my eyes and tried to picture the classroom at the precise moment. “Yes, I’m pretty sure.”
“You hear the shot and run down the hall,” Derek continued. “There you see the body. Who’s with you?”
“Mitchell,” I said instantly. “He wouldn’t stay in the room.”
“Who else?” Derek asked, pacing a few feet in each direction as he peppered me with questions. “Where is everybody now? Who do you see next?”
I went down the line, picturing Alice and Gina at the gallery end of the hall. I remembered Mitchell saying he’d assigned Ned to watch the other hallway. But I never saw Ned that night.
I related Tom Hardesty’s display of grief and Cynthia’s contempt for Layla. And I told them about Minka stomping over and Mitchell forcing her to stay away.
“All right, darling,” Derek said soothingly. “Now, where is Naomi?”
I opened my eyes and stared at him. “She wasn’t there. She showed up a few minutes later. Said she’d had to run an errand. She went berserk when she saw Layla. She tried to get closer and I had to hold her back, she was so out of control.” I hesitated, then added, “It seemed over the top, but I won’t judge her on that score.”
“What else do you remember?”
“I remember you walking in with Gunther. He was angry, arguing with Inspector Jaglom.”
“Yes, I remember that, too.”
I looked over at my three friends on the couch, all in a row, riveted to their seats.
“This is so cool,” Suzie said. “Keep going.”
“Okay,” I said, grinning. I looked up at Derek. “If we assume that the same person attacked Minka, then it can’t be Gunther. He wasn’t in town on Monday.”
Derek folded his arms across his chest as he pondered that for a moment. “But he was. He arrived Sunday night with three of my men. They drove him by the book arts center. He had managed to evade my men twice and I was livid. That’s why I flew in late Monday.”
“So Gunther was already in the city?”
“The plot thickens,” Robin murmured dramatically.
I looked at Derek as something dawned on me. “But Gunther couldn’t have killed Mr. Soo because he was in jail.”
“Yes, that just occurred to me, as well,” Derek said, and we smiled at each other. Were we smiling too much? Were my friends thinking, Get a room?
To distract myself, I picked up the legal pad, sat back in the chair, and perused the list again. “So it could still be anyone.”
“Not you,” Robin said.
“Nope, not me,” I said with relief, and made a third column of people who absolutely didn’t do it. I put my name on that list, then added Derek’s.
After a few fortifying sips of wine, Derek and I went through the same exercise for the night of Minka’s attack.
I thought back to the classroom Monday night, then named the people who left the class, one by one. I remembered trying to sneak out to talk to Layla, but being stopped by Kylie, who asked for an explanation of some technique. Threading? Stitching? Something.
“So Alice and Cynthia and Whitney are out of the room during the time Minka is attacked,” Derek reiterated.
“Yes,” I said.
“That means that Alice and Cynthia are now the common denominators for the two attacks at your workplace,” Vinnie said.
“Very good,” Derek said, winking at Vinnie, who preened with pleasure. I couldn’t blame her.
“And Naomi,” I added. “She was supposedly in her office with the door closed when Minka was attacked. She acted perfectly dumb when she finally opened the door.”
“She’s my guess,” Suzie said, and Vinnie patted her leg in encouragement.
“Where did Alice go off to?” Derek asked.
“The bathroom, probably,” Robin said, smiling.
“No doubt,” I said, thinking back. “She’s always in the bathroom. Or off texting Stuart.”
“Is she?” Derek said.
Robin laughed. “You couldn’t possibly think Alice had anything to do with this.”
“I’m not eliminating anyone yet,” Derek said thoughtfully.
“You’ve seen me pass out over blood, right?” I said. “Alice is ten times worse than that.”
“She is quite sensitive,” Vinnie allowed.
“She couldn’t even lift a gun, let alone shoot it,” Suzie said, amused. “The noise alone would probably cause her to faint.”
“But she was in Dharma when Gabriel was shot,” Derek persisted.
“Oh, come on,” Robin said. “The girl is a wimp.”
“Besides, she was at the spa when it happened,” I said.
“Was she?” Derek asked, one eyebrow raised in doubt.
“And don’t forget,” I said.“The killer would have to know how to break into a hotel room and hide those books.”
“Can’t you just see her breaking into a hotel room?” Robin said with a laugh.
“She is pretty thin-skinned,” Suzie noted. “She was in tears half the night we met her.”
I looked at Derek. “It’s kind of silly to have her on the list. I mean, where would anyone as young and innocent and sensitive as Alice learn about breaking and entering?”
“Oh, she’s not so young,” Vinnie said, sitting forward. “Her earlobes are those of a much older woman.”
“What?” Robin laughed. “Come on.”
“It is true,” Vinnie insisted. “My mother, Padma, is a cosmetic facialist with the soul of an artist. She has studied facial structure, bones and skin, and passed the knowledge on to me.”
“She wanted Vinnie to open a spa with her in Mumbai,” Suzie revealed.
“Really?” Robin asked. “Do you know how to do all that spa stuff?”
“Yes.” Vinnie shivered delicately. “And I cannot tolerate it. Can you imagine cleaning toe jam and waxing hairy upper lips all day?”
Suzie snorted with laughter.
“But what were you saying about earlobes?” Derek persisted, bringing us back to the key topic.
“Ah, yes.” Vinnie sobered. “If earlobes could talk, they would tell you that your young Alice is no spring chicken. I calculate her to be at least forty years old.”
Chapter 18
My mouth gaped open. Robin stared dumbly back at me. We both looked up at Derek, whose eyes were narrowed in speculation.