to come along and wander inside.’’
Ainsworth was doing his best to keep his face blank, but once again I thought I could read his mind. If I were the killer, I would want time to get back in the room before the authorities arrived and do whatever it was I needed to do.
‘‘I didn’t go back in the room,’’ I said as calmly as I could, though I was getting a bit rattled, I must confess. ‘‘I was there only for a minute or two before Leonard, one of the hotel staff, arrived. I pulled the door shut as far as I could with my foot, and Leonard kept watch until you arrived. He promised he wouldn’t go in the room.’’
‘‘Thank you, Mrs. Diamond,’’ Ainsworth said. ‘‘You’ve been pretty clear in what you’ve told me. I’ll probably have more questions for you later.’’
I hesitated for a moment. Should I tell him about the voices I heard last night? Or would he simply think I was trying to give myself some sort of alibi by claiming to have heard someone else kill Avery Trowbridge?
Chapter 12
‘‘Is there something else you’d like to tell me?’’ Ainsworth’s eyes narrowed as he regarded me.
I sighed inwardly. Now I had little choice. ‘‘I heard something last night that might be relevant.’’
‘‘What was it?’’
‘‘It was while I was trying to go to sleep last night,’’ I said. ‘‘I was lying in bed, in kind of a hazy state. Not totally awake, and not quite asleep, either.’’
Ainsworth nodded, waiting for me to continue.
‘‘Well, while I was drifting off, I heard voices. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but they talked for a while. At some point the voices got louder, but I still couldn’t really make out what they were saying. And then there was silence.’’
‘‘If these voices were real, and not just a part of some dream you were having,’’ Ainsworth said after a brief silence, ‘‘where were they coming from?’’
‘‘From Avery Trowbridge’s room, I’m pretty sure,’’ I answered. ‘‘My bed is next to the common wall between the two suites. There’s a large air vent in that wall, right by my bed, and there’s an air vent in the same place on the other side of the wall. I noticed it this morning. The voices must have come through there, but the sound was muffled, distorted even.’’
Ainsworth considered that for a moment. ‘‘We’ll have to check that out. But you’re sure you didn’t hear anything that the voices were saying?’’
‘‘No, none of it was distinct enough. There was just an abrupt silence when the voices stopped, and then I must have really gone to sleep.’’ I didn’t say that I now thought I probably overheard the murder taking place, even though I had no idea what was going on at the time.
‘‘And then, this morning, I thought I smelled something unpleasant through the vent.’’ I shuddered. ‘‘Now I know what it was.’’
The deputy stared at me without saying anything for what seemed an eternity. For a few moments there, I was convinced I was about to be hauled off to the sheriff’s department to be charged with murder. Alternatively, to the closest mental health facility.
‘‘How well did you know the victim?’’
Ainsworth’s question startled me a bit because it was not the response I was expecting. He actually should have asked me that earlier, and I wondered why he hadn’t.
‘‘I met him for the first time yesterday,’’ I said. ‘‘I’d never even heard of him until a few days ago.’’
‘‘How did you hear about him?’’
‘‘Through his wife, Paula Trowbridge.’’ I gestured toward my suite. ‘‘And I met her through a mutual friend, Marylou Lockridge, whom you met. Paula was visiting Marylou in Houston, and I’m Marylou’s next-door neighbor. Sophie Parker, my best friend, lives on the other side of me. I’ve known Sophie since she was a little girl. Sophie is here, too, sharing the bedroom with me. Marylou is in the other bedroom in the suite.’’
I forced myself to stop babbling, but Ainsworth’s intent gaze had disconcerted me. I imagined it was probably a technique he used to wring confessions out of criminals. It certainly had its effect on me, making me jabber like an idiot.
‘‘So you haven’t known Mrs. Trowbridge very long either,’’ Ainsworth stated.
‘‘No, only a few days.’’ I clamped my mouth shut after those few words. I wasn’t going to let my lips loose again.
‘‘What did you think of the victim?’’ Ainsworth continued to bore into me with his eyes. ‘‘You say