Conspiracy Theory(129)

“Of course, there’s one person who isn’t here,” Gregor said. “But I’m willing to bet she was inside the gates when the shots were fired and just managed to get out again in the ensuing confusion.”

“Who?”

“Anne Ross Wyler.”

“Annie? Oh, Gregor. You can’t really think Annie shot her own brother. I mean, for goodness sake, it’s not like she needed his money, at least not unless she’s been incredibly stupid over the last thirty years, and I don’t believe it when it comes to Annie.”

“No,” Gregor said. “I don’t think she killed her brother. I think she thinks she knows who did.”

“Who does she think it was?”

“Lucinda Watkins.” Bennis was obviously drawing a blank. Gregor shook his head. “You never pay attention when I talk to you,” he said. “Lucinda Watkins is—”

“The social worker at Adelphos House,” Bennis said suddenly. “I remember her. She’s a very strange woman. I mean, to look at her, you’d think she was—” Bennis flushed.

“Trailer trash,” Gregor said firmly. “I know. I think she was, once. That that’s what her family was. And I agree with you. In some ways, she’s a very strange woman. My guess is that, philosophically, she isn’t much different from Kathi Mittendorf. But she didn’t kill Tony Ross.”

“But Annie thinks she did? Why?”

“Because at the time her brother was killed, Anne Ross Wyler was following Ryall Wyndham into that party. She says she only went as far as the gate and stopped, but I’m about ninety-nine percent certain that wasn’t true. You see that name on the list—Virginia Mace Whitlock?”

“What about it? She’s a real pain in the ass, but I don’t think she’s sinister. I mean, she’s just trying to be a legend in her own time, if you know what I mean. Buys her clothes at Price Heaven. Makes a fetish of being cheap. There are always people on the Main Line like Virginia, they’re just—”

“The reason why there’s a star next to her name,” Gregor said, “is that at the time of that party, Virginia Mace Whitlock was in the hospital in Boston having a hip replacement.”

“Oh,” Bennis said.

“My guess is that Anne Ross Wyler simply gave the wrong name at the gate. Like I said, the security was very uneven, and there were a lot of people arriving, and I’d guess that the single guard on wasn’t being all that careful. It’s easy to look back now and talk about how important it was for Tony Ross to have real security in place, but you know what life is like. None of us think we need real security in place. Most people get annoyed with security in no time at all, unless they’re very fearful people. Would you say Tony Ross was a fearful person?”

“Of course not,” Bennis said.

“What about Charlotte Deacon Ross?”

Bennis snorted. “She was one of those women who would have offed the burglar in a split second if there had ever been one stupid enough to enter her house. And she probably had the arms in that place to do it.”

“So,” Gregor said, “trust me, neither one of them would be likely to put up with anything like real security for long, because real security is a pain in the ass. And in fact they didn’t, and we know they didn’t. Margiotti and Tackner commented at the time on the fact that there was less of that sort of thing than they’d expected there to be, although I don’t see why. I can’t imagine that most of those houses in Bryn Mawr are tricked out with a full array of security devices. Three quarters of an hour later, of course, it would have been different, because the first lady would have arrived and the feds would have been there in force.”

“But you still haven’t said,” Bennis said. “Why does Annie think Lucinda Watkins killed her brother?”

“Because at the time of the shooting, the murderer was wearing Lucinda Watkins’s clothes, or something very much like them.”

“What?”

“And standing in a tree,” Gregor said. “I didn’t realize what was going on until I actually saw Lucinda Watkins. And heard her. I’d expect Annie Ross has spent a long time listening to Lucinda’s tirades about the evils of the upper class, or however it is she puts it when they’re alone and she can really let loose. With me, she was a little strained.”

“I can bet. Where did the murderer get Lucinda Watkins’s clothes?”

“From Lucinda Watkins’s closet.”

“So who’s the murderer? Annie Ross?”