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bottom sheet. Jack was eavesdropping outside the door.
    Howard took a look and said, “Someone smothered him with the pillow, then put it back under his head with the nasty side down. Is that what you think?“
    “I’ve seen this happen twice,“ Miss Twibell said, “when I was a head nurse in New York City. I never thought it could happen here. Chief Walker, I keep my patients safe and as well as I can, and so does my staff.“
    “I’ve heard that your reputation is excellent,“ he assured her. “An autopsy will probably confirm that he was murdered. But the point is, who did it? And when? Gather together your whole staff and the patients if you can and let’s try to get the times straight.”
    He glared when Lily and Robert Brewster escorted the two old ladies to the main room. “What are you two doing here?“ he asked the Brewster siblings sharply.
    “Helping out Miss Twibell,“ Lily snapped back.
    “Robert, would you round up all the chairs you can find?“ Miss Twibell asked. This was not a good time to veer off the subject, even though she was curious about Chief Walker’s reaction to seeing the Brewsters. “There are an extra three in my suite you can bring.”
    She noticed Jack Summer and asked, “What are you doing here? Our appointment for the interview was planned for later in the week.”
    Jack took her aside and said quietly, “I know that. But Walker let me come with him with my promise of not reporting anything until he gives me permission.”
    When they were all assembled and seated in a big circle, Howard Walker asked, “Miss Twibell, who was in the victim’s room since yesterday?“
    “Me, of course. Betty took the night shift checking on him. Quite early this morning the visiting nurse came.“
    “Who is this visiting nurse, and what time was she here?“ Howard asked.
    “Miss Lucy Mae Quincy,“ Miss Twibell said. “She was here from about seven-thirty to seven forty-five. She works for the State of New York in some kind of health department that randomly checks nursing homes. She wasn’t on an inspection this time, just calling on me while she was in Voorburg to visit a friend who lives here.“
    “Is this Miss Quincy a bona fide nurse? Did she go into Mr. Connor’s room?“ Howard asked.
    “She is, and she did. Because I asked her to,“ Miss Twibell said. “Her opinion agreed with mine that he had only a day or less left. You see, he broke his kneecap falling off a ladder and a severe infection deep in the shattered joint is what would have taken him. The patella, that’s the real name for the kneecap, was shattered and pinned together surgically before he came here. Apparently that was when the infection started. We’ve been cleaning out the wound, alternating peroxide to bubble out the foul matter, and alcohol and sulfa grains to kill the germs, at regular intervals almost the whole time he’s been here. There was nothing else we could do.”
    Jack was standing around the corner of the door to the big room, taking notes madly, hoping no one noticed what he was doing.
    Robert cast a pale-faced glance at Lily and she whispered back, “Buck up. It’ll soon be over.”
    Howard said, “Miss Twibell, you don’t have to defend yourself. I’m just trying to find out who went into his room.“
    “Thank you, Chief Walker,“ she said with relief.
    “Just for the record, what does this Miss Quincy usually do when she’s here?“ Howard asked.
    “She swabs various surfaces and puts the swabs in vials that are checked by someone else for germs,“ Miss Twibell said. “She also visits all the patients to ask, without any of the staff in the room, how they’re being treated. All except Mr. Farleigh.“
    “Why is he an exception?“
    “I’ll tell you that privately later,“ Miss Twibell said firmly.
    “What else does she do?“
    “She checks for dust and cobwebs. She examines the laundry that’s been cleaned and ready to be used. She ascertains that anything that’s