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years ago.”
    “You’re sure that’s what she said?” Sheriff Gruenwald asked Janet. She nodded. “Okay. We didn’t find any cigarettes in her purse, you see,” he said almost apologetically.
    “Oh!” Janet said then. “Something else. She said he,” she nodded at Paul, “was being worn down by his ironic pose. She seemed worried because he was tired and sick.”
    The sheriff narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t get it,” he said. “She said what?”
    Janet repeated her words and then shook her head. “I didn’t understand either,” she said. “But I felt funny asking her what she meant. I pretended it made sense.”
    Sheriff Gruenwald studied her for another moment, then turned back to Paul. “Does that mean anything to you?”
    Paul shook his head.
    “You handed her the letter you found on the bed. Did you see the contents? Could there have been a map of the property, do you suppose?”
    Paul shook his head. “She didn’t open it in the room. I didn’t see it.”
    Sheriff Gruenwald said then, “How it looks at the moment, is that the lady went out to meet someone, and on her way she could have stopped in the barn and made the mess you folks found last night. That could account for the missing time. We know she was still alive at ten past seven when John Buell and his friends were in the building. What I’ll need now is to find out where everyone was, starting at seven ten and for the next few hours last night.”
    “We were all right here, saying good-bye to the party guests!” Ba Ba cried. “We had a party, you know, dozens and dozens of people were leaving from seven on and we were talking and saying good-bye. And then we were all out looking for her.”
    He waited for her to wind down, and then asked softly, “All of you were here? All the time?”
    “Yes! Yes, of course,” Ba Ba said shrilly. “You have to tell your party guests good-bye. Haven’t you ever given a cocktail party to celebrate something? Haven’t you ever gone to one? Doesn’t someone tell you good-bye and I’m happy that you came and—”
    “Ba Ba, shut up,” Tootles said. “I wasn’t here,” she said to the sheriff. “I went to the little stone house at the end of the property and stayed there until nearly eight.”
    He let out a long breath and nodded.

SIX
    The sheriff asked questions, he talked to Paul alone, and then Tootles alone. Although this all took several hours, Constance knew it was not yet a serious interrogation. They didn’t have the time of death yet, the exact cause of death… . All the routine things would take a few days, and then they would come back and start the serious interrogation.
    “I know some of you are from out of town,” Sheriff Gruenwald said to the group that afternoon. “I’ll want statements from each of you before you leave again. We can do it in the morning, nine o’clock. If that isn’t possible, tell me.”
    No one moved or spoke. They were all in the living room, where Seven Kinds of Death now looked obscene. He nodded at them generally, and told them he would return in the morning, and then he left.
    No one moved except for Johnny, who was chewing on a fingernail and looking at his watch. He jumped up suddenly and said, “I’ve got calls to make.” He ran from the room.
    Paul said to Marion, “The sheriff thinks you invited her out. I told him she didn’t know you.”
    Tootles shook her head. “I know. He was asking me the same thing: did I ask her, why? Paul, just when the hell did she decide to come along? How the fuck did she know about the party if you didn’t tell her?”
    “I don’t know,” Paul said miserably. “Last week she called me, the first time we’ve talked in several months.” He looked at Toni. “Since the day I met you, in fact.” He rubbed his hand over his face, over his eyes, and stood up. “She knew about the party, and said she’d like to come along with me. I didn’t ask how she knew. I thought… I thought we might be