“Yeah. In fact, she was in there when you were asking all those questions.”

“How long did she hang there?” Bobby Valentine asked.

“Less than forty-eight hours as far as I know.”

“You think she was moved from someplace else after she was killed?” Sam asked.

“I didn’t say that.” Josie thought for a moment. “But I see what you’re getting at. She disappeared two days before. I suppose she was probably up there until Jill found her.”

“Jill? She’s the pretty one with the chest, isn’t she? Why was she up there?” Bobby Valentine asked his second question before Josie had time to answer-or protest-the first.

“She was figuring out a way to get the canoe down without damaging it. She was doing her job, and I don’t think-”

“If you didn’t know the body was up there, then when- and where-did you see it?” Sam asked Bobby Valentine.

“Last night. It… was here.” He pointed at the oil-soaked chair. “Just sitting there…”

Sam nodded. “Sure, rigor would have started to wear off…” he mumbled to himself. “How was she killed?”

“I haven’t the foggiest. I mean, I didn’t see any blood or anything,” Josie said.

“How was she killed?” Sam directed the same question to the producer.

“I… I think she may have been hit on the head.” Bobby Valentine started to look a bit pale and sat down in the makeup chair before he continued. “I didn’t look as closely as I should have,” he admitted, his voice a bit shaky.

“You came in here and found her. It must have been a shock,” Sam said slowly.

“Not a shock. Not at first. You see, I didn’t know she was dead. I came in after work… I wanted to check her answering machine for messages. And I didn’t turn on the light or anything. I… She was in the chair. I was surprised… thrilled… relieved to see her, I guess. And then, almost immediately, I realized she wasn’t all right. Well, that she was dead.”

“How closely did you look at her?” Josie asked, remembering how reluctant she had been to do the same thing.

“I… I moved her. I didn’t mean to. I went up to her and… I guess I touched her on the shoulder. I don’t remember exactly.”

“You were in shock,” Sam said. “It’s completely understandable. Go on.”

“Well, I think I may have pushed her a bit. Anyway, she fell over and… I saw a large lump on her temple. No blood. But it was certainly ugly.”

“I didn’t see a bump,” Josie said. “But…” She looked across the room at the wig on the exercise bike. “It could have been hidden by the wig, couldn’t it?”

“It probably was,” Bobby Valentine said. “She loved that thick wave that came across her forehead. The injury was right underneath.”

Josie nodded.

“What are you thinking?” Sam asked her.

“When she was up in the canoe, one of the things I noticed was that she was made-up and her hair was in perfect order. Maybe that was to disguise the injury. Do you think that’s possible?”

“Well, whether that was the motivation or not, it seems to have been one of the end results. None of you touched her when she was up there?”

“I don’t think so,” Josie answered. “No one said they had. And it was a little creepy.”

“What did you do, run tours?” Bobby Valentine must have realized how he sounded. “Sorry, I’m a bit upset.”

“Not surprising,” Sam said.

“Everyone on the crew did look up there,” she explained. “But I don’t think anyone touched her.”

“Let’s go back to when you discovered the body here,” Sam asked Bobby Valentine. “After you found out that Courtney was dead, what did you do?”

The producer snorted. “I headed for the nearest bar and got drunk.”

Sam frowned. “You went down to Gallagher’s?”

“If that’s the name of the fake Irish place down by the fiveand-dime, the answer is yes.”

“Good description. It’s owned by a man named Smith. He calls it Gallagher’s because he wanted people to think of it as that friendly little Irish place on the corner, but the name is the only good thing about it,” Sam commented.

“Yeah. He serves off-price brands while claiming they’re top-shelf. But it did the trick. I was plastered.”

“And when did you return here?” Sam asked.

“I came back this morning. And she was gone.” Bobby Valentine put his head in his hands. “I was hung over. For a moment, I wondered if I was going mad. If I had imagined the entire thing. That was wishful thinking, I guess.”

“There was no sign of her here this morning?” Sam asked.

“None.”

“What about the wig?” Josie asked.

“What wig?”

Josie pointed. “That one.”

They all stared at the blond wig, which was still, despite the fight, sitting on the exercise bike.

“It wasn’t there this morning,” Bobby said.

“You might not have seen it,” Sam suggested.

The other man seemed to consider the question. “I think I would have. I came in the door and I looked around. Frankly, I felt like shit. Not just the hangover, but I was terrified of seeing Courtney again. Her body, that is.” He stood up and walked over to the doorway. “I didn’t come in any farther than I needed to be to close the door behind me. And, frankly, I didn’t even look around until I had the door closed. Then… Then, frankly, I was thrilled to death that the body was gone. I told you. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought I was dreaming or seeing things. And when I realized she was really gone, I got out of here as fast as possible.”

“But you came back-” Sam started to say.

“Are you sure about the wig?” Josie asked at the same time.

“The wig. I really think I would have noticed it from here.”

“Why did you come back this evening?” Sam asked.

“Wait a second, Sam.” Josie got up and stood by Bobby Valentine’s side. “You didn’t move from this spot?” she asked.

“No. I’m sure of that.”

“And Courtney was sitting… placed… whatever in that chair last night?”

“Yes.”

Josie frowned and then walked over to the chair he had indicated.

“Why did you return here this evening?” Sam repeated his question.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about her. About Courtney. She appeared and then disappeared. I… I wondered if she would do it again.”

“You thought she might come back?” Josie had been circling the chair and she stopped to ask the question.

“It might sound stupid, but I didn’t know why she was here in the first place.” He shrugged. “So I thought it was possible that she might come back.”

“But she didn’t.” Sam’s voice was flat.

“No. Her hair did, though.”

For one horrible moment Josie thought Bobby Valentine was going to giggle.

Then he put his head in his hands and began to cry.

THIRTY

JOSIE AND SAM waited patiently for Bobby Valentine to recover his composure. Then…

“Why did you call me?” Josie asked.

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Bobby Valentine glanced over at Sam. “Did you hear about what Courtney said about Josie?”

“That if something happened to her, I would know about it-or something like that,” Josie explained.

“Yes. Yes, exactly. Do you know what she meant by that?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

“Are you under the impression that she meant something sinister?” Sam asked.

“What do you mean?” Josie asked him.

“I’m asking if it was a ‘If I’m found dead, Josie Pigeon is the person who killed me’ type of comment,” Sam explained.

“Yes, it was,” Bobby Valentine answered.

“Wait a minute! How did that subject come up? Do you chat about murder during casual conversation? Or was Courtney obsessed with her own death?”

“It was weird,” Bobby Valentine admitted, walking over to the wig and looking at it carefully. “I mean, you’re right, Courtney was not the type of person to contemplate her mortality. It was the first day we were here on the island. She was slightly hyper-”

“What sort of hyper?” Sam interrupted to ask.