He covered his face. “He gave me a thousand dollars. I could really use that money. But there was no question in my mind that I wasn’t gonna keep it. Just as soon as I got back from the cruise…I was gonna give it back.”

“So why’d you take it?”

“You’re not gonna believe me.”

“Try me out.”

“I took the money because Ms. McLaughlin…well, how do I say this? Like I said, she was a beautiful woman with this beautiful, soft voice and a lovely smile. She smiled at me whenever I passed her. Always addressed me by my name and took the time to say a couple of words to me. She always treated me like a person instead of a piece of furniture.”

“I heard she was very friendly.”

“Friendly but never flirtatious. Just a good soul. And like I said, she was so pretty.” He looked down. “I had kind of a crush on her. I took the money because I didn’t want her to be mad at me.”

“YOU LET HIM go?” Marge asked.

“What am I going to hold him on?”

“Maybe he sneaked back in after Donatti left, and killed her.”

“He gave me a complete schedule of his movements. The only way he could have murdered her and disposed of the body would have been if he did it on the grounds. And too many people saw him in between the time he took the money and the time that Gabe got back home and discovered his mother was gone.”

“Maybe he murdered her, stuffed her in a closet, and came back to dispose of the body.”

“He left for home after six-thirty and arrived forty minutes later. He claims he was with his wife the whole time, packing for his vacation. I checked his face, his hands, his arms, and his legs. He even showed me his back and stomach. There were no scratches anywhere. He agreed to take a polygraph. You saw the room. Was there anything to indicate that a struggle took place inside?”

“Loo, he admitted having a crush on her. Maybe she rejected his advances.”

“If he got physical, she didn’t fight back, and I find that hard to believe. I had nothing to keep him on. He doesn’t have a record, he’s got a sterling history of employment, he pays his taxes, he sends his kids to Catholic school. You get a gut feeling about a person. I believed him, so I let him go.”

“I don’t like the part where he said he had a crush on her.”

“She’s a charming woman. He probably wasn’t the only one.”

Marge regarded his face. “Including you?”