The Girl Who Knew Too Much(34)

“What about it?”

“Something didn’t look right.”

“It was a death scene. No surprise that it didn’t look right.”

“I know, but—”

“You went back for another look, didn’t you?”

She winced. “How did you know? You’re right. I don’t know why I felt like I had to do that. Maybe it was just to reassure myself that she really was dead and that there was nothing more I could do. But in hindsight I think it was the blood that bothered me.”

“The blood in the water?”

“No. Well, there was blood in the water, of course, because of the gash on Peggy’s head. But there was also some blood on the floor behind one of the claw-feet on the tub. I found a little more on the tiles under the sink.”

Oliver said nothing. He just listened.

“But here’s what really bothered me,” she said. “There was no bath mat on the floor and no towel hanging on the hook near the tub.”

She waited, wondering if he would conclude she was crazy, paranoid, or simply over-imaginative.

“You think the killer used the bath mat and a towel to clean up after the murder,” he said.

He said it as calmly as if she had made a casual observation on the weather.

She concentrated hard on the view of the road through the windshield, but all she could see were Peggy’s blank eyes staring up at her from under the bloody water.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, with control. “Yes. I think she was struck from behind before she got into the tub. I think there was too much blood on the floor and maybe on the walls to be consistent with a fall in the tub.”

“Anything else?”

“One more thing. I couldn’t find Peggy’s notes. She may have had a problem with the bottle but at her core she was a crack reporter. She kept very good notes. She’s the one who taught me how to get the quotes right and how to make it look as if you’d gotten a quote when the subject never actually gave you one.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Irene shot him a quick, searching glance. He didn’t look annoyed, she concluded. More like resigned.

“Just doing my job,” she said.

“Forget it. All right, so you think the killer took Hackett’s notebook.”

“Yes, I do. I never found her notebook but I did find something interesting when I cleaned out her desk at the office.”

“What?”

“A piece of paper with the name Betty Scott written on it in Peggy’s handwriting. It looked like she had jotted down some quick notes while on the phone. In addition to the name, there was a phone number.”

“You called the number?” Oliver asked.

“Sure.”

“And?”

“Turned out to be a Seattle number. A woman answered. Said her name was Mrs. Kemp. She seemed surprised when I asked for Betty Scott. She said that Scott had rented a room from her at one time but that she had died about a year ago.”

“Why do I have the feeling that you are going to tell me Scott’s death was a tragic drowning accident?” Oliver asked.

“Probably because you’re a magician. According to Mrs. Kemp, Betty Scott slipped and fell in the bathtub. Struck her head. Drowned.”

Oliver whistled softly. “Any connection with Nick Tremayne?”

“None that I could find.”

“That would have been too easy.”

“Yes. But when I started asking questions, Mrs. Kemp said that another reporter had called about Betty Scott.”

“Hackett.”

“I think so, yes. Mrs. Kemp said she could only tell me what she had told the first reporter—Betty Scott had been a waitress who’d had dreams of going to Hollywood.”

“So there is a vague Hollywood connection,” Oliver said.

“Very vague. A lot of people, including a lot of waitresses, dream of going to Hollywood and getting discovered.”

“Where does Nick Tremayne come from?” Oliver asked after a moment.

Irene gave him another quick, searching glance. “We think alike on some things. I looked into Tremayne’s background. According to his bio, he’s from the Midwest. Chicago, I believe.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, it’s no secret that film star bios are largely fiction. The publicists write them. What makes you doubt Tremayne’s?”

“Something about his accent. I can’t place it exactly but I don’t think it’s Chicago. More West Coast. So, you’ve got three women dead in drowning accidents; two of the deceased were definitely connected to Tremayne. No wonder you think you’re onto a story. You’re sure you don’t know what Gloria Maitland wanted to tell you last night?”