Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

remember."
    She met his gaze again and seemed reassured by what she saw there. "I was almost to Ziegler's suite when the door opened. Cheryl was coming out. There was... blood... on her hands and face, and some on her clothes. She was staring at me without seeing, and when I spoke to her, she didn't seem to hear anything. Then I looked past her, into the room... and I saw him." April closed her eyes but it was clear from her expression that she could not block out the gruesome scene she had faced.
    "All I could think of was protecting Cheryl. I pushed her back inside and closed the door. I used a washcloth to clean her up as fast as I could but I couldn't do anything about the blood on her clothes. I put one of Tim's suit jackets on her and tied one of his handkerchiefs over her hair to disguise her as much as possible. Then I thought about fingerprints. I couldn't even remember what I'd touched, let alone guess what she had. I wiped a few things, stuffed the cloth in my purse and led her out of there.
    "We took the stairs all the way down into the underground garage and I got Cheryl into my car without attracting any attention. I had already told people I was leaving earlier in the day, so I kept to that story, only I said I took Cheryl with me right after the hearing ended and we came straight here. Rachel made sure it was official. I never told Rachel what had happened, although I thought she'd figured it out. As it turns out, she had come to the wrong conclusion."
    "So Cheryl killed Ziegler?" Holly asked, though she still didn't believe it.
    "I don't know," April cried. "I mean, I thought she did, but now I'm not sure. I kept waiting for her consciousness to come back from wherever it was hiding and tell me what happened. But the days passed and she wasn't making any attempt to communicate with me."
    "Then I went to visit a patient in New York and stayed the night. When I returned, I found out O'Day had been killed the same way as Ziegler. Theodore had no idea if Cheryl had left the house or not. Rachel had told me how the men were cut and the next thing I knew, I was looking for our electric carving knife. Even though I didn't recall ever using it, I was sure we had one, but I couldn't find it."
    "I was convinced that Cheryl had killed both men, but I couldn't turn her over to the authorities. I did the only thing I could think of. I locked her in the attic."
    Holly glanced at David but he was keeping all his attention glued to April.
    "You said you were no longer sure," David prodded.
    "No, I'm not. She definitely didn't leave the attic this weekend, so someone else killed Frampton. Yet I understood the murder was done in the same way. Then I got to thinking about our knife and now I'm sure I gave it away years ago."
    Holly tried to correlate everything April was saying with what facts Quick had given her. "Isn't it possible, then, that Cheryl wasn't the murderess, but a witness?"
    April frowned. "I don't know what to think anymore."
    "Would you bring Cheryl downstairs, please?" Holly asked. "Let us try to talk to her."
    "I'll bring her down, but I'm afraid it won't do any good."
    * * *
    Diane was following the conversation going on inside so intently, she practically missed seeing the man pass by the car. Inching up a little, she watched him slowly approach the house. The way he was moving was highly suspicious.
    She could hear David and Holly murmuring suppositions to each other. April had apparently left the room to get Cheryl. But the man outside now had Diane's complete attention.
    "What is it?" Jim asked, unable to see for himself.
    "Holly's friend, Philip, just arrived. I don't know what he's doing here but I don't think it's good."
    Rather than walk up to the front door, Philip knelt down beneath the big front window and peered inside.
    "Damn," Diane muttered. "Stay here. He should recognize me. I'll try to get him away before he causes a problem."
    Quietly, she slipped out of the car and started toward the front porch. She was almost there when Philip suddenly stood up, pointed a gun at the glass window and fired through it.
    * * *
    David had just turned Holly's face toward his when he saw the figure in the window and acted without thought. He shoved Holly to the floor and threw his body over hers, a split second before glass exploded into the room. Dizziness and nausea assailed him from the sudden movement and he blacked out.
    Holly looked up to see Philip about to fire at David again. "No!" she