"I think we're all aware of that," she said. She was using that superior tone of voice that drove me mad, but I couldn't afford to react at this point. She crossed her legs, swinging one foot. The dandelion fuzz on that slipper undulated as the air passed over it. "You may not like it, but it is the truth. And that's not all of it. Word has it that Derek took out a policy on Kitty too."

"For how much?"

"Haifa million bucks on each."

"Come on, Sufi. That doesn't make any sense. Derek wouldn't kill his own daughter."

"Kitty isn't dead, though, is she?"

"But why would he kill Bobby? He'd have to be nuts. The first thing the cops are going to do is turn around and look at him."

"Kinsey," she said patiently. "Nobody ever said Derek had brains. He's an idiot. A fool."

"He's not that big a fool," I said. "How could he hope to get away with it?"

"Nobody's got any proof that he did anything. There never was any evidence from the first accident and Jim Fraker seems to think this one came about because Bobby had a seizure first. How can they pin that on Derek?"

"But why would he do it? He's got money."

"Glen's got money. Derek doesn't have a dime. He'd go for anything that would get him out from under her. Don't you know that?"

All I could do was stare at her, running the information through my mental computer. She took another sip of wine and smiled at me, loving the effect she'd produced.

Finally, I said, "I just don't believe it."

"You can believe anything you like. All I'm saying is you better check that out before you do anything else."

"You don't like Derek, do you?"

"Of course not. I think he's the biggest ass who ever lived. I don't know what Glen saw in him in the first place. He's poor. He's dumb. He's pompous. And those are his good qualities," she said with energy. "Aside from all that, he's ruthless."

"He doesn't seem ruthless to me," I said.

"You haven't known him as long as I have. He's a man who'd do anything for money and I suspect he's got lots he's not anxious to discuss. Doesn't he strike you as a man with a past?"

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure. But I'd be willing to bet you his buffoonery is just a cover for something else."

"Are you saying Glen's been hoodwinked? She seems smarter than that."

"She's smart about everything but men. This is her third time around, you know, and Bobby's father was a mess. Husband number two I don't know about. She was living in Europe when she married him and it didn't last long."