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Mr Jones had es to his hotel account After an indeterminable nu to drop off his key at the desk Indeed, he'd hung the do not disturb sign on the door of his roo staff had scrupulously honored it until shortly after the 11:00 a At that tih a call to the room When the phone went unanswered she knocked on the door; when that brought no response she opened it with her passkey

She walked in on what the Post reporter called "a scene of indescribable horror" A nude woman lay on the carpet at the foot of the unmade bed Bed and carpet were soaked with her blood The wo been stabbed and slashed innuht have been a bayonet or nizablereporter from Miss Dakkinen's "luxurious Murray Hill apartment" shohat he'd had to ith Ki down over her shoulders with one single braid wrapped around the crown like a tiara She was clear-eyed and radiant in the photo, and looked like a grown-up Heidi

Identification had been made on the basis of the woman's purse, found at the scene A suators to rule out

I put down the paper I noticed withoutI was even shakier on the inside I caught Evelyn's eye, and when she ca me a double shot of bourbon

She said, "Are you sure, Matt?"

"Why not?"

"Well, you haven't been drinking Are you sure you want to start?"

I thought, What's it to you, kid? I took a breath and let it out and said, "Maybe you're right"

"How about some more coffee?"

"Sure"

I went back to the story A preliminary exaht I tried to think what I'd been doing when he killed her I'd co, but what tiht, but even so it had probably been close to ht by the time I packed it in Of course the tiht have been already asleep when he started to chop her life away

I sat there and I kept drinking coffee and I read the story over and over and over

Fro's I went to St Paul's I sat in a rear pew and tried to think Is with Kim intercut with my conversation with Chance

I put fifty futile dollars in the poor box I lit a candle and stared at it as if I expected to see so in its flaain I was still sitting there when a soft-spoken young priest ca for the night I nodded, got to my feet

"You seem disturbed," he offered "Could I help you in any way?"

"I don't think so"

"I've seen you come in here from time to time Sometimes it helps to talk to someone"

Does it? I said, "I'm not even Catholic, Father"

"That's not a require you-"

"Just some hard news, Father The unexpected death of a friend"

"That's always difficult"

I was afraid he'd handabout God'sfor et out of there and stood for a o next

It was around six-thirty The et there an hour early and sit around and have coffee and talk to people, but I never did I had two hours to kill and I didn't kno