"Yeah. We figure between eight and eight-thirty, closer to eight.
That's nice timing for you, professor. Seems like the girl had a
helluva lot of boyfriends--but you were number one on our list!"
I stared at the hostile face and thought about what would have happened
if Laurie hadn't lied, if I'd had only my own word that I was alone in
the trailer between eight and nine. And then I thought about what would
happen if they learned that she had lied.
But when my mind turned to Lois and why I had wanted to see her, I
felt a fear that had nothing to do with the policeman's threatening
attitude, a quivering fear that started way down inside me, a queasy
weakness that made me feel sick.
"How--how was she killed?"
"Nice and quick, Professor. Her neck was broken."
I heard Laurie gasp and I looked at her quickly. Her face was pale now,
heightening the bright red slash of her lips. Her eyes were fixed on
me, wide and frightened.
The sergeant started toward the door. His partner went down the steps
ahead of him. The burly man turned in the doorway.
"This lets you out for now, professor. But we'll check out your story.
And maybe we'll have another little talk later on. Be around where I
can find you, huh?"
"Any time, Sergeant," I said, feeling that my voice sounded hollow and
unconvincing. "If there's any way I can help--"
"Yeah," he said, the flat lips stretching in what might have passed for
a smile. "Sure."
He took another long, steady look at Laurie and at me before he turned
his broad back on us and went out. I waited until the two men had gone
down the walk to the street before I closed the door.
Laurie hadn't moved. There was an expression in her eyes and around
her mouth that I didn't immediately fathom, a curious tension. But the
brutal announcement about Lois had been shocking. Small wonder that
Laurie would be upset.
"Thanks, Laurie," I said. "You got me out of a spot."
"Happy to oblige," she said coldly.