“A thousand. Wow, that’s a lot. And do you always stay on the property during these events?” the detective asked.

Delfina picked at a loose string on her blouse, refusing to meet the detective’s eye. “Sometimes. It depends on what is asked of me,” she said, in a faint voice.

“And what was asked of you this time, for this particular party?”

“To manage the food and cleanup on the day of their arrival and then to serve appetizers on Saturday. They mostly wanted help with the food. We came a few hours before to prep, me and my six-person staff team. We were all there during dinner too, then we cleaned up and left. I returned alone on Saturday and brought their hors d’oeuvres, but they weren’t back yet since they were out on the town.”

“So, they didn’t ask you to stay on the property then. Correct?” the detective pressed.

Delfina was silent.

“Delfina…”

“No, they did not,” she said, finally, eyes flickering up to the detective’s, but only for a brief moment.

“Then why were you there all weekend? I found some of your things in the butler’s pantry room. You were there all along, you never left. Your staff went home, but you never did… Why?”

Delfina shrugged. “I thought that I might be needed. Especially after what happened with the girl on Friday. I was worried about her! She had an allergic reaction and I felt responsible.”

“But that wasn’t your fault, Delfina. Mara orchestrated that on purpose.”

Delfina narrowed her eyes, then opened her mouth and quickly closed it.

“There are a lot of clothes in the pantry room, Delfina. I think you might be staying there all the time. I’m sure you don’t make a lot of money working at the house. and the owner lives out of state, so would never find out. I can see why you might just stay in those hidden quarters… I would be tempted to do that myself.”

“It’s just easier this way. I clean the house and get it ready for the next guests. And I always stay out of their way. I don’t make a nuisance of myself. And I know that house better than anyone,” Delfina said, sitting up straighter in her chair.

“There’s only one problem though. I found blood and dirt on some of the clothes, Delfina. Something happened. Maybe Mara said something to you? Pissed you off somehow? I know you tried to hide the clothes afterwards, but what I don’t understand is why. She was pissing everyone off all weekend. What did she do to set you off?”

Delfina’s eyes were round as quarters. “I didn’t kill anyone, ma’am. I swear I didn’t.”

“But those were your stained clothes I found, right?”

Delfina’s face crumbled.

The detective watched and waited, as the woman lowered her head and sobbed.