Page 116 of Murder on Charity Lane

“They said goodbye for ten minutes at the stairs,” I reminded her.

“Every time,” CJ agreed.

Mrs. B pointed a bejeweled hand at her in triumph. “Exactly! So this is what happened. Karina slipped a handful of Frank’s pills into his wineglass during dinner. He already had trouble with balance! You missed that, didn’t you? Well, to the trained detective, it is a very red flag. Positively scarlet.”

“Now you’re a trained detective?” Ocean asked.

Mrs. B ignored her. “After a little overmedication, Karina followed him upstairs, knowing he’d pause there for a bit. Then she waited for the inevitable.”

“If you’re correct,” Lily-Ann said, “she at best waited for the probable.”

“Well, she’s probably tried this a half dozen times,” Mrs. B told her. “And now it finally worked.”

I squinted at her. “What about the liquor bottle smashing?”

“Oh, I’ve no idea. CJ?”

She chewed her lip. “I’m not sure.”

“Maybe that was a coincidence,” Nicholas said, “and when Frank turned toward the noise, that’s what unbalanced him?”

“Because he was already overmedicated,” Mrs. B said.

“Or maybe Karina drugged the Amaretto,” Ocean said. “Instead of putting the medication directly in Frank’s glass. Then she left it balanced precariously, planning to break it and hide the evidence after he died, but it fell early.”

Mrs. B beamed at her. “Oh, perfect! You have all the makings of a diabolical murderess!”

“So you’re a detective and I’m a murderess?”

“Naturally,” Mrs. B said, then a flash of alarm crossed her face. “Wait!”

My pulse jumped again. “What’s wrong?”

“Do we say ‘murderess’ anymore, or just ‘murderer’? Like ‘actor’ instead of ‘actress’?”

“Perhaps we don’t care about the feelings of people who commit homicide,” Lily-Ann suggested.

“Well, a little politeness never hurts!” Mrs. B huffed. “Where was I? Oh! Karina arranged for a dizzy spell, then claimed she saw CJ push Frank. Why? To divert attention from herself, and because she was jealous of his extremely appropriate affection for her.”

The room grew silent until Nicholas said, “I mean, that doesn’t not make sense.”

“Except Karina wouldn’t hurt Frank,” CJ said.

“Not for all the money in the world?” Nicholas asked.

“You never can tell,” I said. “What do you think, Lily-Ann?”

“It strikes me as not impossible,” she said. “Though we still need evidence.”

“‘Not impossible!’” Mrs. B crowed. “As for evidence … well, that’s what Sunny Wheeler is for.”

“How’s he going to help?” I asked.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Mrs. B said, radiating somehow inoffensive smugness. “Karina saw that her testimony wasn’t enough to close the case, to fully frame CJ. So she convinced Sunny Wheeler to play along. Which means he knows she convinced him.”

“How did she convince him?” Ocean asked.

“Maybe they’re lovers!”