There was a deep hush, broken by Cordelia’s forced cheerfulness as she said, “But there must be others besides you—and to a lesser degree, me—who were on the spot and have reasons for hating Lorna. Let’s face it, she’d never have won a popularity contest, would she?”

“That’s right,” said Lindsay, “Caroline Barrington seems to have hated her guts—and seems to think there were others in the same boat.”

“I can imagine people hating, but I can’t imagine anyone killing her,” said Paddy dubiously. “Not killing her.”

“Well, what about this property developer?” asked Cordelia. “It would definitely be in his interest to get rid of Lorna and discredit the school in the process.”

“He wasn’t there tonight,” said Paddy. “They’re still going to find me firm favorite if they come up with a motive.”

“But we’ve come up with Caroline and the property developer guy in just a few minutes and we scarcely know the people involved,” Lindsay protested, alarmed by her friend’s defeatism. “There have got to be others. Listen, I heard someone having an argument with Lorna only this afternoon. I don’t know who it was, but they were going at it hammer and tongs.”

“What about?” demanded Cordelia.

“I don’t really know. He wanted her not to play at the concert or something and she wasn’t having any.”

“You should tell the police about that,” Cordelia urged.

“Yeah, I’ll get round to it when I see the Inspector tomorrow,” Lindsay replied. “So that’s another one to add to the list. And if we’re talking about people who knew the terrain and had access to keys and cello strings, what about Margaret Macdonald? She’s seemed really uptight all weekend.”

“She wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said Paddy positively. “I know the woman; God damn it, if anyone is incapable of murder, it’s Margaret.”

“No one is incapable of murder,” said Lindsay vehemently. “This particular murder may just have been the one that she was capable of.”

And they were off again. None of them seemed to be able to hang on for long to the idea that this was a real murder. None of them was willing to face the fact that, once the first horror had worn off, there would be fear, suspicion, and isolation left. No one seemed keen to make the first move toward bed, afraid, perhaps, of sleeplessness and speculation in the early hours.

It was after two when they reluctantly decided to end their talk. Paddy went off to make her last checks of the House, having promised to wake Lindsay early and take her across to the darkroom so she could process her film.