“I know. I heard about the diamond. Lisa saw it and she said it was as big as a boulder.”

“Well . . . Lisa’s exaggerating a bit, but it is extremely large. But Stephanie already had her new clothes and her new diamond when the victim was murdered. What motive would Stephanie have for actually killing Phyllis?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Stephanie thought that Phyllis would do it all over again. Or . . . maybe she wanted to get even with Phyllis for asking the mayor to set her up in an apartment.”

“That’s weak, Hannah.”

“Okay, try this one on for size. Stephanie always supports the Lake Eden Players. She even introduces the actors when they take their curtain call. Maybe she didn’t want Phyllis to be Mrs. Claus because she felt that Phyllis wasn’t worthy of being included in a Lake Eden Players production.”

“That’s a little more plausible, but Stephanie has an alibi. She went out for drinks with the mayor after his council meeting.”

“Yes, but he didn’t pick her up until nine. She was alone before that. And Doc set the window for the time of death from eight to ten that night.”

“How do you know that?”

“A little birdie told me.”

Mike smiled. “A little birdie named Mother?”

“Whatever. I don’t have to reveal my sources unless it interferes with your official investigation. We have a deal, don’t we?”

“We do.”

“If Phyllis was murdered at the beginning of the window of death period, Stephanie would have had time to kill her.”

“You think that Stephanie had time to drive out to the Corner Tavern, bash in the victim’s head, get rid of the murder weapon, drive back home, clean up, and be dressed and ready to go when the mayor picked her up at nine last night?”

“Yes. It would be tight, but if she was determined to get rid of Phyllis, she could do it. And there’s even another possibility that would have saved Stephanie some time. She could have been in the school parking lot, waiting for Phyllis to come out of the auditorium. Rod published the rehearsal schedule in the Lake Eden Journal. Stephanie could have followed Phyllis out to the Corner Tavern and intercepted her before she could get inside. That would explain why Bonnie Surma didn’t see Phyllis walk in. Stephanie killed Phyllis before she got anywhere near the entrance to the restaurant.”

Mike thought about that for a few moments. “It’s unlikely, but possible,” he conceded. “You were there at the school, Hannah. Did you see Phyllis come out?”

“No. I told you this before. Lisa left before Tory Bascomb dismissed the cast and the crew. When we drove off, none of them had come out yet.”

“Did you see Stephanie’s car in the school parking lot?”

“No, but there were a lot of other cars and I wasn’t looking for it.”