trying to frame her. The information hasn't been released to the media yet, but the police have a videotape of an unidentified person wearing Elaine's fake leopard coat and hat depositing the body in the Crystal Garden.”
“Ah ha! Videotaped proof. And she says she did it. No wonder you are convinced of her innocence, Ms. MacPhee.”
“No need to be sarcastic. The person in Elaine's hat and coat kept his or her face turned away. And if it had been Elaine, she'd have stopped to thumb her nose at the camera.”
Mrs. Parnell sipped her sherry. When she came up for air she said, “Perhaps she didn't see the camera.”
“No. She's been involved in so many women's committees on safety and security, she'd know where there were cameras, security guards, emergency phones in a downtown area in the night. Plus I am sure you realize, she couldn't kill someone in cold blood.”
“Nevertheless, I expect it will do her a bit of good being locked up.”
“Let me say this one more time. Elaine did not commit this crime. She might be her own worst enemy, but she does not belong in jail.”
“I concede, Ms. MacPhee. I suppose we should rise to the occasion. So what is our plan of attack?”
I plunked my glass on the table. “I think someone made fools of all of us. We're too emotionally involved with Elaine.…”
“Speak for yourself.”
“…and Lindsay.”
“Ah, yes. Lindsay.”
“We need to figure out what's really going on here. I'll talk, you react.”
“Splendid. Let us begin with the big question: if not Ms. Ekstein, then who?”
“I'll do the talking. Okay, in a typical murder, the guilty party is likely either a spouse, lover, family member or close friend, or a business associate with serious cash to gain or lose, or some drugged-out thug who meets the victim in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
She nodded. She loved this kind of thing.
“Call me sentimental,” I said, “but I figure you, Alvin, and Merv are not the perpetrators.”
“Excellent. I will assume the same for you, Ms. MacPhee. And surely you can eliminate the random mugger. Whoever did this was organized, mobile and had done all the proper reconnaissance work.”
“Never mind reconnaisance work, the killer must have known Elaine well in order to set her up by wearing her clothes. Otherwise that video didn't make sense.”
“It is not necessary to keep banging your glass on the table.”
“If you'll give me a chance to talk, I won't have to. Let's see, the spouse is usually the most likely suspect. But Rina was dead long before Benning's body rolled into the Crystal Garden.”
“Someone in the late Ms. Benning's family might have the motivation,” Mrs. P. said.
“I thought of that, but how could they have framed Elaine?”
Mrs. P. wasn't giving up. “Nevertheless, let us leave no stone unturned.”
Lucky me, I had my pen and paper. I started a TO DO list for Alvin and wrote “leave no stone unturned” on it.
“Lovers are right up there with spouses,” I said.
“Well, Ms. MacPhee, Lindsay is the most obvious of the lovers. Let us speculate that she exited the house in the night while we conveniently slept, slipped into Elaine's hat and coat and wheeled Benning's body into the Crystal Garden, all the while keeping her lovely face averted from the cameras. She certainly had the means and opportunity to drug us. And presumably him. He would not have been afraid of her.”
I hated this version.
“And what if Lindsay did kill him? She had reason enough. I quite like the girl,” Mrs. Parnell said.
“You think I don't? Lindsay definitely had means, opportunity and big-time motive. The police wouldn't have to work hard to convince the Crown about that. She feared for her life and rightly so. She was much better off with him dead. She said it was time she opted for fight over flight.”
“High time she did, too. Good for her.”
“If he contacted her, she could easily have lured him to meet her. But it's still murder and premeditated. And may I remind you, if Lindsay did do it, that means she's deliberately framed Elaine.”
Mrs. Parnell topped up her sherry. Lester and Pierre cheeped.
I rubbed my forehead. “On the other hand, let's use our brains. Lindsay's so delicate, she'd never have the strength to move a body.”
“Nonsense, Ms. MacPhee, were you truant during all your high school physics classes?”
So I'd skipped a few of them, but how did she know? “What?”
“Pulleys, wheels, incline planes, winches and other contrivances. Don't forget the pyramids, Ms. MacPhee. Moving the body wouldn't be the big problem. No, in favour of Lindsay's innocence, I would say she loved Ralph Benning.”
“I'm with you there, but we have to think it through. There's something else troubling me. When we saw her in the morning, she was not wearing the same outfit she fell asleep in. Remember that cream-coloured cashmere ensemble? It should be in her home somewhere. It's not. I was searching for it when I got into that dust-up with Merv and Alvin.”
“Another indication that she'd gone out,” she said.
“What do you mean, another one?”
“Did you notice her boots lying in a puddle in the foyer in the morning?”
“Yes.” I hadn't realized Mrs. P. had spotted them too.
“But how would she have eluded the officers outside?” Mrs. Parnell sipped her sherry speculatively.
“They were obviously drugged too. I'm certain of that.”
“Ah! The pizza or the coffee?”
“Well, Lindsay didn't touch her pizza.”
“Everyone else tore into theirs.”
“That's the bad news. And everybody drank coffee. Even the cops, although we didn't actually see them drink it. Everybody except Lindsay.”
“Troubling. But how would Lindsay have known where to find Elaine's coat?” A stream of smoke wafted by my face.
“She didn't need to know in advance. She could have nipped the keys to the SUV, spotted the coat and hat and used them to throw suspicion onto Elaine.”
“To cast suspicion on a friend, that is not in the least bit sporting. If she did that, she'll get no sympathy from these quarters.”
“Wait a minute, this is all conjecture. I still don't think it was either Elaine
