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hadn’t asked.
    â€œAnd they’ve confirmed the cause of the fire.”
    â€œWhat was it?” I asked.
    â€œWhat you’d expect,” said Tony. “Nothing fancy. Just rags soaked with lots of gasoline. Lots of traces of them in the basement and on the first floor.”
    Susanna and Greg shifted impatiently. Angela and Mark sat quietly, looking interested but not surprised. They could have been at a lecture on gardening or modern art.
    â€œThe third result was sort of a surprising,” said Tony. “Although it does explain why your alarm system wasn’t more helpful, Mr. Davies.”
    â€œWhat failed?” he asked. “I am upset that Cheryl died in a fire. I feel some responsibility. She was a very courageous woman, but she was afraid of fire. She took precautions against it. They didn’t help.”
    â€œNothing failed, Mr. Davies,” said Tony. “Cheryl and Freddie had both taken—or been given—large doses of a narcotic substance. They were probably unconscious.”
    â€œSee?” said Susanna. “Drugs. Rodriguez again. I’ll bet Freddie and Cheryl were smoking something, or even injecting something, really powerful that this Rodriguez gave to Freddie.”
    â€œAnd then they spread gasoline all over the place and set fire to it? Just for fun? Come on, Susanna,” I said, furious for the moment.
    â€œI didn’t mean that,” she said. “Cheryl was in bed, wasn’t she? And it must have been someone trying to get rid of Freddie who started the fire. Not knowing that anyone else was in the house. After all, how many people have Wednesdays off?”
    â€œOr maybe whoever did it knew Cheryl took Wednesdays off,” said Mark Davies suddenly.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DEATH INSURANCE
    â€œW ho would want to kill my mother?” Susanna’s face was white. “She never hurt a fly. Everyone loved her.”
    â€œThat’s true, Susanna. I did,” said Mark in a low voice. “All of us did. It was a part of what she was. But she had another side. She was careful. She worried about the future. She saved her money and was well insured. House and life insurance.”
    â€œHow do you know?” said Susanna. “Who is this guy?” she asked, looking around.
    â€œSources,” he said. “So the beneficiary is going to do well.”
    â€œThat’s interesting,” said Tony.
    â€œBut I’m the beneficiary, aren’t I? Are you saying I killed my own mother? Me?” Her eyes filled with tears.
    â€œDid she own the house?” asked Tony.
    â€œShe did,” said Mark. “She paid the mortgage off last year.”
    â€œHow do you know all this?” I asked.
    â€œI knew her pretty well. I came here for breakfast. I sat over there, by the coffee machine. After the place emptied out, we used to talk. I don’t suppose you and Angela even noticed me.”
    He turned to Susanna. “It doesn’t have to have been you,” he said. “Someone else might want you to be rich. Someone looking for a wife with money.”
    â€œEither way, that made Cheryl the target of the fire,” said Tony.
    â€œIt’s possible,” said Mark. “Whenever you’re talking about a lot of money, you have a motive. Money changes things.”
    â€œYes,” said Tony. “It changes things.”
    â€œI always figured the motive was money,” I said. “But I still think Rodriguez was trying to get rid of Freddie. After all, he was going to talk. But Cheryl’s death? I couldn’t see it. Unless she was going to tell us why she let Freddie stay in my apartment.”
    â€œWeren’t there easier ways to get rid of Freddie?” asked Angela.
    â€œTorching the house brought me into the frame,” I said. “And that meant someone wanted to fix me for good. That someone has to be Rodriguez.”
    â€œIt looks that way,” said Mark.
    â€œSo