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“Did he see you?” Sasha asked.
She drew her perfectly arched eyebrows together and thought. Then her blue eyes cleared, and she shook her head. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t. He was in a hurry, and I was lingering in the doorway to that sitting room where the couches are.”
“Where did Bethany go after she talked to Hatty and John?”
“She clomped upstairs. I heard her talking to Annette in the hallway, then a door opened and closed. I assume she went into her room because Annette came down the stairs a minute later. I headed into the kitchen to get a mug of tea. Then Annette screamed.”
* * *
After Joy left the bedroom, Sasha flopped down on the curved settee and groaned. Leo sat on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his hands.
“These people give me a headache,” he complained.
“Tell me about it.” She shook her head. “So, Chance is a liar. That’s our takeaway. Two people have just independently disputed his version of events.”
“They sure have.”
“We need to talk to Bethany.” She pushed herself upright.
“Or we just hide in here and take a nap,” he countered. “Maybe we’ll wake up to find that Aroostine and Carl have arrived with reinforcements.”
She knew he was joking—or mostly joking, at any rate—but she was sorely tempted. Instead, she stood up. “Come on. First of all, if we did hide in here, I’d want to spend the time doing something more exciting than sleeping.”
She raised an eyebrow, and he grinned. “Tell me more.”
She giggled. “But we’ve established that I’m not exactly quiet during exciting times.”
“Understatement of the year.”
“And the last thing we need is for my screams to bring the entire crew running, ready to save us from a killer.”
His lips twitched. “You make an excellent point.” He sighed heavily and got to his feet. “I guess we better go catch the killer so we can make love without interruption.”
“Talk about motivation.”
He opened the door and came face to face with Maisy, whose fist was raised midair.
“Knock, knock,” she said, playfully rapping on his chest.
“We don’t want any,” he said.
“Ha ha.”
“Is something wrong?” Sasha asked.
“No, sugar, don’t worry.”
“Who’s in charge?” Leo asked.
Maisy waved a hand. “Daniel’s got it under control, and he has Naya and Chris down there. You think I would leave the toddler room unattended?”
“Okay, then why are you up here?”
“Well, I was coming to see what you lovebirds were up to.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Not that,” Sasha said as if the idea was absurd and she hadn’t just been talking slightly dirty to her husband moments earlier.
“Hmph. Sounds like a missed opportunity to me. Anyhow, you know how we all just dumped our bags in that room across from the parlor—the sunroom, the conservatory? I don’t know. There are too many rooms in this house.”
