The woman’s reaction was sudden, excited, open-mouthed. “You mean she didn’t do it after all? God, I knew it!”

It encouraged him to open the door a bit wider.

“You didn’t think she was capable of killing Carl?”

“Oh, she was capable of it, all right. But she’d never have done it like that.”

“You mean with a rifle?”

“I mean from so far away.”

“Why not?”

She cocked her head, gave him a skeptical look. “How well do you know Kay?”

“Probably not as well as you do,… Miss?… Mrs.?”

“Carol. Carol Blissy.”

He extended his hand over the desk. “Nice to meet you, Carol. And I really appreciate your taking the time to speak to me.” She took his hand briefly but firmly. Her fingers and palm were warm. He went on, “I’m working with her legal team. I’ve had one face-to-face meeting with Kay and one long phone call. Our meeting gave me a good sense of her as a person, but I have the feeling you know her much better than I do.”

Carol Blissy looked pleased. She absently adjusted the neckline of the black silk blouse she was wearing. She had glittery rings on all five fingers. “When I said she’d never have done it like that, what I meant was that it wasn’t her style. If you know her at all, you know that she’s an in-your-face kind of person. There’s nothing sneaky or long-distance about Kay. If she was going to kill Carl, she wouldn’t have shot him from half a mile away. She’d have walked straight up to him and split his head with an ax.”

She paused, as though listening to her own words, and made a face. “Sorry, that was disgusting. But you do understand what I mean, right?”

“I understand exactly what you mean. I have the same feeling about her.” He paused, looked admiringly at her hand. “Carol, those rings are lovely.”

“Oh?” She looked down at them. “Thank you. I guess they are pretty nice. I think I have a good eye for jewelry.” She moistened the corners of her mouth with the tip of her tongue and looked back up at Gurney from her desk. “You know, you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

He had to make a choice—a choice he’d been postponing—regarding how much to reveal. There were significant risks and rewards attached to various levels of candor. In this instance, the inner picture he was developing of Carol Blissy persuaded him to go a bit further than he normally would. He had a feeling that openness would be rewarded with cooperation.

“It’s a sensitive issue. Not something I could just blurt out without knowing who I was talking to.” He took a deep breath. “We have some new evidence suggesting that Mary Spalter’s death may not have been an accident.”

“Not … an accident?”