In the Still of the Night

it on his tie last night. Where did you find it?“
    “It was under the bed, miss. Mrs. Ethridge’s bed.”
    For anyone else to have even noticed something so small under a bed would have been remarkable, but Mimi’s housekeeping skills knew no bounds. When she cleaned a room, she really cleaned.
    “I’ll take it to the sheriff. His people certainly didn’t do a good job of checking the room.“
    “No, miss. But the letter was crammed down between the top sheet and the bedspread. And so was a fountain pen. With the cap off. That’s what the stains are. It leaked. I don’t think I can get the ink out of the sheet. May I have it for rags?“
    “Of course. But the police should have checked the whole room instead of making you do their work. Don’t mention finding these to anyone else.”
    Lily put the letter and the tie tack into a pillowcase and went to Mr. Prinney’s office.
    “Come in,“ Walker said impatiently. He was on the telephone again. Or still. He glared at Lily for interrupting him.
    “I think you better get off the phone and look at something.”
    Glaring even more fiercely, he brought his conversation to an abrupt end. Lily opened the pillowcase and handed him the contents.
    “Good God!“ Walker said as he read the note. “Where did you find this?“
    “The housekeeper found it in the bedding when she remade the bed. Your people should have searched the room more diligently.“
    “You’re damned right. I thought they knew what to do, but I was wrong. Heads will roll,“ Walker said. “And the tie tack? Was that in the bed as well?“
    “Under it. It’s Julian West’s. I noticed it last night. His was gold and it has a very tiny diamond in the middle that catches the light. I’m sure it’s the same one.“
    “I suppose you realize that Raymond Cameron told me that he’d never met or heard of this woman before. But she was writing him a very personal note. And Julian West absolutely denies having even remembered Mrs. Ethridge until his man reminded him of her name, and yet he left a tie tack in her room.”
    Lily shrugged. “Maybe. He could have lost it somewhere else and she picked it up intending to return it to him.”
    Walker looked embarrassed. “Possible, but not likely. What on earth was the woman doing?”
    “Counting coup,“ Lily said.
    At this, Walker suddenly laughed. “I didn’t know anyone but Indians knew that phrase. Yes, that’s what it looks like. I’m going to have a few searing words with my deputies, if you don’t mind excusing me. And then with Raymond Cameron and Julian West.”

    But Lily caught up with Raymond first. He was coming in the kitchen door as she went to consult with Mrs. Prinney about dinner. “Raymond, could you wait for me a moment?“ Lily asked.
    She hastily finished her conversation with Mrs. Prinney and led him to the front hall. “Am I mistaken, or was Mrs. Ethridge a stranger to you?“
    “Complete stranger. Why?“
    “I just wondered.“
    “We did have some friends in common, as it happens. But I’d never even heard of her before I met her here.“
    “I see,“ Lily said. “Chief Walker would like to speak to you in a little bit. After he’s finished slaughtering his deputies.“
    “Lily, what’s going on? Why are you being so mysterious,“ he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Kind of funny, his being called Chief Walker. He looks so much like an Indian.”
    She stepped back, rather than blatantly shaking off his touch. “He is part Indian and I wouldn’t try that joke on him if I were you. And I don’t really know what’s going on, but I intend to find out. I’ve got to see Robert to check on the drinks for tonight.”
    Instead, she went to her room first and got a handkerchief and rubbed it violently on her lips to eradicate his kiss of half an hour earlier. How could she have been so dim? There she was, letting him paw at her, when Lorna Ethridge, had she not died, would have slipped her note to him today. A note that clearly indicated that he knew her all too well. She’d been so stupidly enthralled with his apparent sympathy that she forgot that he, too, was a suspect in Lorna’s death. And, it appeared, might well have a motive in spite of his lie that he’d never met her.
    Lily went looking for Robert to tell him what Mimi had discovered. She found him outside, visiting with a group of townswomen who were setting up a display to show off their quilting. All of them, including the oldest, a