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Saw hiirl, poor Jenny Henderson--and poor Alistair," he murmured

"Alistair didn’t do it," Madison said Her voice was low, but her words were passionate "It happened just the way you reenacted it He was ahead of her and then he got to the door So Someone who knew that Alistair came to see the noir movies on Sundays, and so a chance that Jenny would show up and that Alistair would fall in with her plans, but it wasn’t really that big a chance"

"Someone--or the kid The kid does tell it your way But there’s nothing to exonerate him"

Madison was startled by the voice of Benny Knox He’d co so hard, she’d forgotten he ith the to the kid, he walked to the door--and the thing came out of the tableau I don’t knohat the kid was on, but te to be his best defense," Knox went on

"If he says that’s what happened, it’s what happened Alistair isn’t on drugs, and he doesn’t drink He’s a good kid--which is pretty a when you realize the money he has access to and how everyone tries to suck up to hiht be able to do for therily

"Whoa" Knox lifted a hand and took a step back in mock-horror "Well, when they need character witnesses, they can call you to the stand"

Madison tried to check her te to investigate If the LA police weren’t deteruarantee the FBI would be But you’ve got to understand--you’re looking at a locked-roo is, if a room is really locked, the people in that room are the suspects Nine tiet"

"What you see is a kid in shock and a brutally o counting on there being no other answer For one thing, a costu?" Knox asked sharply

"It’s not on the mannequin," Madison said, "where it should be--where it was before I left the studio on Friday"

"So it may just be somewhere else?"

"It’s the robe the priest wears," Sean said "That’s definitely worth investigating"

Knox didn’t dismiss his words, but he didn’t seem too impressed, either "That studio is filled with shelves and desks and nooks and crannies and…stuff The robe ate--I’ent Cah all the steps onArcher When you show me another way in and out of this locked room, I’ll be happy to reexamine the evidence" He pointed to the tableau "As you can see, those mannequins just stand there--they don’t ue or step down to coht We have all kinds of hairs and fibers and plenty of blood In fact, we’ve got forensics up the wazoo We’ve checked the locks, we’ve gone over the security footage…and nada So when you find so, they were all shocked by a noise from the tableau Some piece of the little scenario had shifted The three of them immediately looked over at the characters There was Sam Stone, ready to race across the room to save his feers twined around the terrified wous and the snakes--cobras posedacross the floor and in strike mode

The scene had shifted, of course, because the crierprinting, s around That obviously explained the odd, off-kilter look of the tableau And yet…

Madison sed unco not at the le her--but at Madison Huge blue glass eyes seemed to stare across tiht there’d been another presence in the tunnel

Sean Cah the tableau "Gravity, I guess So handled by the crime scene techs"

"Of course," Knox said His voice was harsh, and Madison looked over at him Maybe the hard-boiled just-the-facts detective was a little on edge himself

Madison tried to define exactly how the tableau had changed The police and technicians apparently hadn’t uncovered anything they considered evidence; they’d left the scene aled And Dianna Breen still seeht, those realistic glass eyes had witnessed a ht?" Sean asked

"No Before you arrived today, two dozen of our guys--the best at their jobs--went through the studio We needed that many, which won’t surprise you The place is a hotbed of fake weapons and fake blood and fake--well, you name it" He shook his head "But no, we don’t have the weapon yet"

"So, how are you figuring that Alistair irl, fell in the blood, passed out, caency help and soent Ca through all the surveillance He clai her and that he fell in the blood, went down and passed out According to hiuard and cauard rushed in, followed by the cops He clai or what really happened And if soirl and not hioat if you kill everyone?" Sean asked reasonably

"That’s right," Madison said "If Alistair had been killed as well, he couldn’t have been blamed for theany possibilities I’m just not emotionally involved Are you done here for the day? We’re closing up until tomorrow and--"

"What about Colin Bailey?" Sean broke in "Did you confir the cameras the whole time?"

"Bailey was the only other person on the property at all," Knox said "Everything pans out--and, of course, we verified his background His record is clean as a whistle, he’s worked here twenty years and his story checks out We’re not stupid local dicks, Agent Cameron So, are you done here?"