“How did you know about-about what I’ve done?” Susan asked.

“Why, Allison herself told me about it just the other day when we were sitting around the pool.”

“Allison told you?”

“Yes, she said that you had come up with the identity of a murderer when the police had been quite unable to do so, and done it more than once. I must say, that from what she was saying, Hancock, Connecticut, must be a terribly dangerous place to live-so many murders! Is it very near New York City, dear?”

“Not really.” Susan didn’t waste any time defending her hometown. She knew exactly how close her upper-class affluent suburb was to New York City; it was nearly in another world. The New York Times didn’t report on the things that happened within Hancock’s confines unless a famous or infamous person was involved. And Susan didn’t know any celebrities-either dead or alive. If Allison had known what had been going on in Hancock, Connecticut, in the years since her sister had died, she had made an effort to do so.

“Well, Allison made living there sound very exciting.”

“But Allison-” Susan didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t know this woman at all. She should be more careful about what she said. “What did she say about Hancock?”

“Oh, that’s not important right now, is it, dear? What’s important now is keeping your friend out of jail. I must admit that while we have done extensive sightseeing on the island, we’ve never visited the jail, but this is a poor island. They don’t educate their children beyond age ten. I cannot imagine that their expenditures on prison facilities are anything like adequate.”

“Jerry would never kill anyone,” Susan insisted.

“I’m sure you’re right, dear. That’s why I felt it so important that we talk immediately. You see, I think we should get our stories straight.”

“Our stories straight? I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course, you don’t. How could you? Let me begin at the beginning. You see, I have insomnia.”

“So…”

“So I don’t want to bother my husband. Burton gets so cranky when he doesn’t get his eight hours a night. At home, I just go downstairs to our den and turn on the TV. Some of those shows advertise very interesting products, I find.”

“But you can’t do that here,” Susan guessed.

“That’s absolutely true.” Ro beamed as though Susan had made a deduction that would have made Sherlock Holmes proud. “I can’t do that here, so while we’re on vacation, I get up and sit out here. I have a battery-powered light so I can read my books or magazines-I always bring along all the reading material that I get at home and have no time to read-and I look around, as well.”

Susan glanced down at the water. She was pretty sure she knew what was coming. “You were here the night Allison was killed,” she guessed.

“Yes. I was.”

“Did you see her?” Susan asked, leaning forward.

“I saw a few people…” Ro didn’t finish her sentence.

“I went out on the pier for a while,” Susan said. “Did you see me?”

“I’m glad you brought that up,” Ro said approvingly. “Yes, in fact, I did.”

“Who else?” Susan decided to ignore the possibility that this woman thought she was the murderer.

“Well, the place was pretty busy that night. Let me think. James and one of the kitchen workers were walking on the beach when I came out. A girlfriend, not one of his many relatives who work here, I think, from the way they were holding hands. They’re not supposed to use the facilities for their own purposes, of course, but at night, Lila isn’t around to keep her staff up to snuff.

“After a minute I saw your friend Jerry. He was walking with someone back and forth in front of his cottage. Then, when James and his girlfriend came up from the beach, Jerry and his companion hurried out to the gazebo. They were there for quite a while. Then one of them-I couldn’t see which one-came back alone. The other stayed out there.”

“In the gazebo.”

“I assume so. To be honest, I was feeling a bit peckish and went back inside to see if I could find something to eat. We keep a stash of fruit and pastries downstairs for when the kitchen is closed. You must help yourself if you’re hungry in the middle of the night.”

“How long were you inside?” Susan asked, ignoring the suggestion. Just what she didn’t need-more food.

“Certainly not more than five minutes. Very little could have happened in that time.”

Susan didn’t agree with that; she could even imagine an improbable situation where everyone in every cottage exchanged places in those five minutes. But she didn’t share her thought. “So when you came back,” she prompted.

“That’s when I saw you leave your cottage and walk out on the pier.”

“And did you see me return, as well?”

“Yes. I could see you, you understand, but I couldn’t hear you or any conversation you might have had with anyone out there.”

“I didn’t talk with anyone,” Susan said honestly. “I wasn’t even sure who, if anyone, was out there at the same time I was.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Susan assured her. “I thought-well, I assumed, I really didn’t think about it-that I was alone, but I did notice some noises. To be honest, I thought I might be interrupting a couple who was out there… ah, making out.”

“Oh, yes, that little gazebo is a favorite spot for romantic trysts.” Ro glanced over at the binoculars lying beside her, and Susan wondered if birdlife was the only thing Ro’s husband spied on. “I gather you were too polite to look over and see who was there?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“And naturally you had no idea Allison would be found there less than eight hours later.”

“Exactly.” Susan frowned. “I can’t remember the last time I saw her alive, to be honest. Not that I knew who she was.”

“My goodness. She said she had changed a lot, but I didn’t really believe her. You know how it is. You dye your hair a shade lighter and think everyone you know will notice, but, in fact, the only person who knows-or cares-is you.”

“She had done a whole lot more than dye her hair,” Susan said. “She had lost about forty pounds. Her hair was a completely different color, and long and straight rather than short and curly. She dressed differently. She had contact lenses. She might have even had cosmetic surgery. She looked familiar, but I never realized who she was.”

“Was she much more attractive than when you knew her?” Ro asked.

“There was no comparison. She used to be… well, not hideous or anything, but rather plain-homely if you want the truth. And yesterday… well, she was smashing!”

“She had a very interesting theory, and from what you say, she was living proof of it.”

“What theory?”

“She said you lived the first forty years of your life in the body your genetic makeup decreed, but once you turned forty, your appearance depended on how hard you worked at it.”

Susan was silent for a moment. “I never thought about it like that, but it’s probably true. The funny thing is, I never would have thought that Allison cared about her appearance. She always looked so dowdy and dull.”

“Those are two words I certainly wouldn’t have applied to the Allison I knew.” Ro leaned closer and lowered her voice as though about to convey a dirty secret. “I’m positive she saw the plastic surgeon more than once.”

“Do you know if she was here alone?” Susan asked, wondering if Allison had a man in her life these days.

“Yes. She told me she was alone the evening we met. I was a little concerned. A gorgeous single woman can cause a lot of mayhem in a place like this. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Well, naturally not everyone comes here with a husband or what everyone these days calls a significant other. But this isn’t the type of resort that appeals to swinging singles looking for a vacation pickup. There are lots of those places available. But every once in a while someone comes here looking for a holiday fling. The second year we were here-or was it the third?-no, I’m pretty sure it was the second-there was a woman who damn near caused a divorce when she set her cap for a married man.”