He waved a hand. 'Never mind. It doesn't matter. Perhaps I did look guilty there for a while. In any event, it was interesting being the prime suspect for a moment or two.''If only we'd confided in one another,' I said. 'But we've never been very good at that, have we?''It could be worse. At least you've never tried to drown me in my bathtub.'I let out a sound that was some cross between a laugh and a sigh. 'Do be serious, Milo.

Lord Dunmore reacted as though he was caught removing another man's wife's stocking every evening. Then again, perhaps he was.

And so we find ourselves at the scene of another murder," Milo said, coming back to the sitting area. He didn't seem much troubled by the fact, for he lit another cigarette and settled back into his chair. I couldn't help but think that he looked particularly content.

Milo might be willing to spend his time in Paris out gallivanting, but I had a mystery to solve.

You haven't forgotten that we're having dinner with the Belangers this evening?" I asked."Of course not," he said. "I am hoping that one of them will let slip that they killed their father and we can lay the thing to rest.

Darling, don't you think we've played detective long enough tonight?" Milo protested as we got out of the cab.

In the novels, it always seemed best to keep the suspect talking. Inevitably, help would arrive. I really held out no hope for such an opportune occurrence, but it seemed the best course of action would be to distract her until I could determine what to do.

So what happened . . . with Rupert?' I asked at last. I was genuinely curious. If I were to be murdered tonight by a deranged killer, I should hate to do it with questions still lingering in my mind.

It certainly wasn't my fault people went about getting themselves killed wherever I happened to be.