clever you are.”

“Then, what? You were sitting in the tub.…”

“I’m not sure. I think I heard the door open again. I believe I did. Because, later, when I went into the living room, when I… I… the door to the corridor was open.”

“All right, Mother.”

“I’m sorry, Captain Neale. This is difficult.”

“Would you like to take a break? Get some coffee? Something?”

“Would you like an eye-opener, Captain Neale?”

“An eye-opener?”

“I’m making myself a Bloody Mary,” Junior said.

“Oh, no, Junior,” Lydia March said.

“A little early, for me,” Neale said.

“Let’s get it over with,” Lydia said. “I heard Walter coughing. He never coughs. Not even in the morning. He’s never smoked.… Then I heard him choking. It got worse. I called out, ‘Walter! Are you all right? Walter!’”

“Take your time, Mrs. March.”

“Then the choking stopped, and I thought he was all right. The telephone began ringing. Walter always picked up the phone on the first ring. It rang twice, it rang three times. I became very alarmed. I screamed, ‘Walter!’ I got out of the tub as fast as I could, grabbed a towel, opened the door to the bedroom.…”

“Which bedroom?”

“Ours. Walter’s and mine.… Walter was sort of on the bed, the foot of the bed, his knees sort of on the floor, as if he hadn’t quite made it to the bed … he had come from the living room… the bedroom door was open … the scissors … I couldn’t do a thing … he slipped sideways off the bed … Walter’s a big man … I couldn’t have caught him even if I had been able to move! He rolled as he slipped. He fell on his back … the scissors … face so white … Captain Neale, a big blood bubble came up between his lips.…”

“Mister March, why don’t you give your mother some of that?”

“Come on, Mother.”

“No, no. I’ll be all right. Just give me a moment.”

“Just a sip.”

“No.”

“We can postpone the rest of this, if you like, Mrs. March.”

“I don’t even remember going through the living room. I went through the open door to the corridor. I was just thinking, Helena, Helena, Jake… I knew they were in 7 … we had met for drinks there the night before … there was the back of a man … there was a man in the corridor walking away, lighting a cigar as he walked … I didn’t know who he was, from behind … I ran toward him … then I realized who he was … I ran to Helena’s door and began banging on it with my fist… Helena finally opened the door. She was in her bathrobe. Jake wasn’t there.…”

“Mrs. March, did you go back into that suite?”

“My mother has not been back in that suite since.”

“I was on Helena’s bed. They left me alone. For a long time. I could hear people talking loudly, everywhere. Eleanor Earles came in. I asked her to find Junior.…”

“Did you know, at that point, your husband was dead?”

“I don’t know what I knew. I knew he had landed on the scissors. I asked for someone to get Junior.”

“And, Mister March?”

“I was in the coffee shop. I heard myself being paged in the lobby. Eleanor Earles was on a house phone. I came right up.”

“What did Ms. Earles say to you, Mister March?”

“She said something had happened. My mother wanted me. She was in the Williams’ suite—Number 7.”

“She said, ‘Something has happened’?”

“She said, ‘Something has happened. Come up right away. This is Eleanor Earles. Your mother’s in Jake Williams’ suite—Number 7.’”

“What did all that mean to you?”

“I couldn’t imagine why Eleanor Earles was calling me about anything. In the elevator I was thinking, maybe there had been an accident. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Mrs. March, are you all right?”

“Yes.”

“Mrs. March. Who was the man in the corridor?”

“Perlman. Oscar Perlman.”

“The humorist?”

“If you say so.”

“Why didn’t you speak to him?”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry? You said you ran toward him, and then you didn’t speak to him.”

She said, “Oscar Perlman has been very unkind to my husband. For years and years. Very unfair.”

“Mother … realize what you’re saying.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. March. You’ll have to explain that.”

“Well, years ago, Oscar used to work on one of the March family newspapers, and he thought he could write a humor column. He always was lazy. I’ve never thought him funny. Anyway, Walter encouraged him. He really developed the column for Oscar. Then, well, as soon as the column was established in one March newspaper, Oscar went off