"I--see," Dundee acknowledged, and underlined heavily another note in
his scrawled shorthand.
"So Lydia took our hats and summer coats and put them in the hall
closet, and then followed Nita, who was calling to her, on into Nita's
bedroom. We thought she either wanted to give directions about the
makings for the cocktails and the sandwiches, or to console poor Lydia
for the awful pain she had had at the dentist's, so we didn't intrude.
We made a dive for the bridge tables, found our places, and were ready
to play when Nita joined us. Nita and Karen--"
"Just a minute, Penny.... Did any of you, then or later, until Mrs.
Marshall discovered the tragedy, go into Mrs. Selim's bedroom?"
"There was no need for us to," Penny told him. "There's a lavatory with
a dressing-table right behind the staircase. I, for one, didn't go into
Nita's room until after Karen screamed."
There was a chorus of similar denials on the part of every woman
present. At Dundee's significant pressing of the same question upon the
men, he was met with either laconic negatives or sharply indignant ones.
"All right, Penny. Go ahead, please."
"I was going to tell you how we were seated for bridge, if that
interests you," Penny said, rather tartly.
"It interests me intensely," Dundee assured her, smiling.
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