“I could never shoot myself,” I said.

“Me neither. And right on her new living-room sofa.” Mary Alice pulled into the turn lane. “Did you notice that floor in the foyer? I’ll bet that parquet’s going to be hard to keep up at the beach.” Mary Alice pulled into the turn lane.

“It looked like it had an acrylic finish on it.” I thought for a moment. “You know what? She was looking out at the bay. She wanted her last look at the world to be a beautiful one.”

“If she still thought the world was beautiful, how come she killed herself?”

I couldn’t answer that. My whole body felt heavy, achy, as if I were coming down with something. We parked, went into the lobby, and waited for the elevator.

“What are we going to tell Fairchild?” Sister asked. “No telling what this will do to his blood pressure.”

What was this “we” business? Then it just popped out: “You could tell him Emily’s on the roof.” In a moment the elevator opened and the young couple who got off were greeted by the sight of two old sisters hanging on to each other, laughing and crying.

The note on the refrigerator said that everybody was at The Flamingo and we should join them when we got in.

“The Flamingo? I don’t think so. Not tonight.” Mary Alice took the note down and threw it in the garbage. “I wish I had some ginger ale. Remember, Mouse, how Mama always gave us ginger ale when we were sick to our stomachs?”

“I could drive over to the grocery in your car and get you some.”

“A Coke will do.”

“I’ll fix it. I need one, too.”

When I brought the drinks out to the balcony, Sister said, “I’m serious. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Fairchild about Emily’s’s death. Do you think I ought to call the doctor downstairs to go with me?”

I handed her her Coke. “Wouldn’t hurt.”

“What’s his name?”

“I have no idea, but Eddie and Laura called him, didn’t they? Maybe he’s a personal friend.”

“Maybe.”

We sat quietly for a few minutes. There was still a tiny streak of orange on the western horizon.

“You know,” Sister said, “chances are that the two deaths are connected. I just don’t see how.”

“Emily was distraught about Millicent’s death and just couldn’t take it?”

“She didn’t even know about Millicent’s death.”

“Maybe she did. Maybe she was the one who killed her.”

Sister rolled her damp glass across her forehead. “Cut her throat like an animal? I don’t think so. Emily was one of the sweetest people in the world.”

“You can’t go by that.”

“I know.” Sister shivered.

“Did you get to talk to Major Bissell today?”