the sink. She sat down at the table and
they sat with her. There was a big ceramic ashtray on the table, and
Mendoza offered her a cigarette. She bent to his lighter.
" I don't believe any of this has happened,"
she said. "Half an hour ago—Leta saying she'd do the breakfast
dishes—and then the doorbell rang—"
" We have to take it in order. We don't know much
about it, suppose you tell it from the beginning. First, she was your
sister?"
She nodded once. "Leta Reynolds. I suppose you
want—some background. Whatever you call it. She was twenty-seven.
She was divorced. This was—I mean, she and Len started to buy this
house and she got it as a settlement and went on paying on it."
" Did she have a job?" asked Mendoza.
Melinda put a hand to her eyes. "If she'd just
been at work! Any other day she would have been! But if she had been,
maybe I'd have got shot. It doesn't make any sense. Yes. Yes, she
worked at the Armstrong Photo Salon, she's a retoucher. Usually,
she'd have gone to work at nine o'clock, but she'd put in some
overtime on those rush wedding pictures last week, and Mr. Armstrong
told her to take this morning off."
"What about you?" asked Galeano. His tone
was warm and friendly; she relaxed a little.
" I'm going to L.A.C.C., my second year. I came
to live with Leta because it's closer for me—Mother and Dad live in
Inglewood. I'm an education major. I've got a part-time job at the
campus bookstore. Please, I'd like to call Mother. This will about
kill them, there were just the two of us left, my brother was killed
in an accident two years—-"
"In a while," said Mendoza. "We'd like
to hear just what happened, Miss Corey."
" I'll tell you everything I know," she
said, "but it just doesn't make sense. Leta kept Lily home this
morning, she had a temperature and it was so wet out—she's in first
grade—she was, I mean Leta, going to take her over to the Sanfords'
when she went to work. That's where Lily always goes after school,
her best friend is Barbara Sanford and Mrs. Sanford keeps her till
Leta gets home at five-thirty. I didn't have a class till one
o'clock. We had a late breakfast, and Leta got dressed to go to
work—she wanted to get the tank filled on the way—and I was in
the bathroom, washing out some pantyhose and things. When the bell
rang."
"Take your time. Did you see the woman at all?"
asked Mendoza.
" About—two seconds," she said. "Just
crazy. I heard Leta open the door and I heard them talking—just a
couple of sentences—and I couldn't tell who it was, I thought it
might be my girl friend Edna, sometimes she hitches a ride to
campus—so I came down the hall to see. This woman was standing by
the couch—a perfectly strange woman—and Leta was saying she
hadn't much time to look but she liked Avon things. So I knew it was
an Avon saleswoman, and I went back to finish my washing?
" Was she white or colored?" asked Galeano.
" Oh, colored."
" Could you tell us anything about her at all?"
She shook her head dumbly. "I've tried to think.
It wasn't two seconds. I thought she'd probably pushed her way in,
Leta sounded annoyed, and I thought she'd get rid of her easier
alone. I think she was taller than either of us, bigger. Not exactly
fat, but—bosomy. That's just the impression I remember. She was—I
don't know. I didn't really look at her. She had on a blue raincoat.
And she had a bag—a sort of briefcase kind of thing. It just
crossed my mind, her samples in that." She paused.
" Well, it couldn't have been twenty seconds
later—I mean that—I'd just got back to the bathroom and started
washing again, when I heard some—some little pops. It wasn't like a
gun—I never knew a gun could sound like that. Not loud bangs, just
pops. It startled me—I thought maybe Lily had upset something—and
I went down the hall, and that woman was just going out the door. I
only saw about half of her back—and the door shut, and I said
Leta's name and then I saw her—on the couch—I
they sat with her. There was a big ceramic ashtray on the table, and
Mendoza offered her a cigarette. She bent to his lighter.
" I don't believe any of this has happened,"
she said. "Half an hour ago—Leta saying she'd do the breakfast
dishes—and then the doorbell rang—"
" We have to take it in order. We don't know much
about it, suppose you tell it from the beginning. First, she was your
sister?"
She nodded once. "Leta Reynolds. I suppose you
want—some background. Whatever you call it. She was twenty-seven.
She was divorced. This was—I mean, she and Len started to buy this
house and she got it as a settlement and went on paying on it."
" Did she have a job?" asked Mendoza.
Melinda put a hand to her eyes. "If she'd just
been at work! Any other day she would have been! But if she had been,
maybe I'd have got shot. It doesn't make any sense. Yes. Yes, she
worked at the Armstrong Photo Salon, she's a retoucher. Usually,
she'd have gone to work at nine o'clock, but she'd put in some
overtime on those rush wedding pictures last week, and Mr. Armstrong
told her to take this morning off."
"What about you?" asked Galeano. His tone
was warm and friendly; she relaxed a little.
" I'm going to L.A.C.C., my second year. I came
to live with Leta because it's closer for me—Mother and Dad live in
Inglewood. I'm an education major. I've got a part-time job at the
campus bookstore. Please, I'd like to call Mother. This will about
kill them, there were just the two of us left, my brother was killed
in an accident two years—-"
"In a while," said Mendoza. "We'd like
to hear just what happened, Miss Corey."
" I'll tell you everything I know," she
said, "but it just doesn't make sense. Leta kept Lily home this
morning, she had a temperature and it was so wet out—she's in first
grade—she was, I mean Leta, going to take her over to the Sanfords'
when she went to work. That's where Lily always goes after school,
her best friend is Barbara Sanford and Mrs. Sanford keeps her till
Leta gets home at five-thirty. I didn't have a class till one
o'clock. We had a late breakfast, and Leta got dressed to go to
work—she wanted to get the tank filled on the way—and I was in
the bathroom, washing out some pantyhose and things. When the bell
rang."
"Take your time. Did you see the woman at all?"
asked Mendoza.
" About—two seconds," she said. "Just
crazy. I heard Leta open the door and I heard them talking—just a
couple of sentences—and I couldn't tell who it was, I thought it
might be my girl friend Edna, sometimes she hitches a ride to
campus—so I came down the hall to see. This woman was standing by
the couch—a perfectly strange woman—and Leta was saying she
hadn't much time to look but she liked Avon things. So I knew it was
an Avon saleswoman, and I went back to finish my washing?
" Was she white or colored?" asked Galeano.
" Oh, colored."
" Could you tell us anything about her at all?"
She shook her head dumbly. "I've tried to think.
It wasn't two seconds. I thought she'd probably pushed her way in,
Leta sounded annoyed, and I thought she'd get rid of her easier
alone. I think she was taller than either of us, bigger. Not exactly
fat, but—bosomy. That's just the impression I remember. She was—I
don't know. I didn't really look at her. She had on a blue raincoat.
And she had a bag—a sort of briefcase kind of thing. It just
crossed my mind, her samples in that." She paused.
" Well, it couldn't have been twenty seconds
later—I mean that—I'd just got back to the bathroom and started
washing again, when I heard some—some little pops. It wasn't like a
gun—I never knew a gun could sound like that. Not loud bangs, just
pops. It startled me—I thought maybe Lily had upset something—and
I went down the hall, and that woman was just going out the door. I
only saw about half of her back—and the door shut, and I said
Leta's name and then I saw her—on the couch—I
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