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"You are absolutely wrong," Min said indignantly.
"I told you to come up with more letters and trace them." Cheryl spat out the words.
"I may do just that," Elizabeth told her. "Mr. Bartlett, did Ted tell you that both Syd and the Baron were around my sister's apartment house the night she died?" She seemed to enjoy his look of astonishment. "There is more to my sister's death than has come out. I know that. One, maybe two of you know that. You see, there's another possible scenario. Syd and Helmut had money in that play. Syd knew Helmut was the playwright. They went together to plead with Leila. Something went wrong and Leila died. It would have been considered an accident if it hadn't been for that woman who swore she saw Ted struggling with Leila. At that point, my testimony that Ted had come back trapped him."
The waiter was hovering over them. Min waved him away. Bartlett realized that people at the surrounding tables were watching them, sensing the tension. "Ted doesn't remember anything about going back to Leila's apartment," Elizabeth said, "but suppose he did go back; suppose he left immediately; suppose one of you struggled with Leila. You're all about the same size. It was raining. That Ross woman might have seen Leila struggling, and simply assumed it was Ted. You two agreed to let Ted take the blame for Leila's death and concocted the stories you told him. It's possible, isn't it?"
"Mi
"I deny absolutely that I was in that apartment that night," Syd said.
"You admit you ran after Ted. But from where? The apartment? Because he'd seen you pushing Leila? It would have been a stroke of luck if he was so traumatized that he blocked it out.
"The Baron claims he heard Leila and Ted quarreling. But I heard them too. I was on the telephone. And I did not hear what he claims he heard!"
Elizabeth leaned her elbows on the table and looked searchingly from one angry face to the next.
"I'm very grateful for this information," Henry Bartlett told her. "But you seem to have forgotten there's a new witness."
"A very convenient new witness," Elizabeth said. "I spoke to the district attorney this afternoon. This witness turns out not to be very bright. The night he claims he was in that apartment watching Ted drop Leila off the terrace, he was in jail." She stood up. "Craig, would you walk me to my place? I've got to finish packing, and I want to get a swim in. It may be a long time before I'm here again… if ever."
Outside, the darkness was now absolute. The moon and stars were again covered with a misty fog; the Japanese lanterns in the trees and bushes were hazy dots of light. Craig put his arm around her shoulders. "That was quite a performance," he said.
"It was just that: a performance. I can't prove anything. If they stick together, there isn't a shred of evidence."
"Do you have any more of those letters that Leila was receiving?"
"No. I was bluffing about that."
"That's a shocker about the new witness."
"I was bluffing about that too. He was in jail that evening, but he was released on bond at eight o'clock. Leila died at nine thirty-one. The most they can do is cast doubt on his credibility."
She leaned against him as they reached her bungalow. "Oh, Craig, it's all so crazy, isn't it? I feel as if I'm digging and digging for the vein of truth the way the old prospectors dug for a vein of gold…
The only trouble is I'm out of time, so I had to start blasting. But at the very least, I may have upset one of them enough so that he-or she-will make a slip."
His hand smoothed her hair. "You're going back tomorrow?"
"Yes. How about you?"
"Ted still hasn't turned up. He may be on a bender. I can't say I blame him. Though it wouldn't be like him… Obviously, we'll wait for him. But when this is over, when you're ready-promise that you'll call me."
"And get your Japanese-houseboy imitation on the recorder? Oh, I forgot. You said you changed it. Why did you do that, Craig? I always thought it was pretty fu
He looked embarrassed. She did not wait for him to answer.
"This place used to be such fun," Elizabeth murmured. "Remember when Leila invited you here that first time, before Ted came?"
"Of course I remember."
"How did you meet Leila? I forget."
"She was staying at the Beverly Winters. I sent flowers to her suite. She called to thank me, and we had a drink. She was on her way here, and she invited me along…"
"And then she met Ted…" Elizabeth kissed his cheek. "Pray that whatever I've done tonight works. If Ted is i
"I know you do. You're in love with him, aren't you?"
"I have been from that first day you introduced him to Leila and me."
Inside the bungalow, Elizabeth put on her swim-suit and robe. She went to the desk and wrote a long letter addressed to Scott Alshorne. Then she rang for the maid. It was a new girl, one she'd never seen before, but she had to take the chance. She put the envelope for Scott inside a new one and scribbled a brief note. "Give this to Vicky in the morning," she instructed the girl. "No one else. Is that clear?"
"Of course." The girl was slightly offended.
"Thank you." Elizabeth watched the girl leave and wondered what she would say if she could have read the note to Vicky.
It read: "In case of my death, deliver this to Sheriff Alshorne immediately."
At eight o'clock, Ted walked into a private room in the Monterey Peninsula hospital. Dr. Whitley introduced a psychiatrist who was waiting to administer the injection. A video camera had already been set up. Scott and a deputy sheriff were to be witnesses to the statements given under sodium pentothal.
"I still think you ought to have your lawyer here," Scott told him.
Ted was grim-faced. " Bartlett has been the very one urging me not to undergo this test. I don't intend to waste any more time talking about it. Let the truth come out."
He slipped his feet out of his shoes and lay down on the contour couch.
A few minutes after the injection had taken effect he began to answer questions about the last hour he spent with Leila.
"She kept accusing me of cheating on her. Had pictures of me with other women. Group pictures. I told her that that was part of my job. The hotels. I was never with any woman alone. I tried to reason with her. She had been drinking all day. I was drinking with her. Sick of it. I warned her she had to trust me; I couldn't face those scenes the rest of my life. She told me she knew I was trying to break off with her. Leila. Leila. She went wild. I tried to calm her down. She scratched my hands. The phone rang. It was Elizabeth. Leila kept shouting at me. I got out. Went to my apartment downstairs. Looked at myself in the mirror. Blood on my cheek. On my hands. Tried to phone Craig. Knew I couldn't live like that anymore. Knew it was over. But thought maybe Leila would do something to herself. Better stay with her till I can get Elizabeth. God, I'm so drunk. The elevator. Leila's floor. Door open. Leila screaming."
Scott leaned forward intently. "What is she screaming, Ted?"
"Don't. Don't." Ted was trembling, shaking his head, his expression shocked and disbelieving.
"Ted, what do you see? What happened?"
"Push door open. Room is dark. The terrace. Leila. Hold on. Hold on. Help her. Christ, grab her! Don't let her fall! Don't let Mommy fall!"