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She retained sufficient presence of mind to wipe the handle, then left. That, at least, was the reconstruction of the crime.
    Fingerprints meant nothing elsewhere in the apartment: all four had been there. There were witnesses to the fact that a woman had returned in the late evening, but the particular woman simply could not be identified. It was dark, and there had been merely a casual glimpse. None of the four had an adequate alibi for the period in question. All were upset and enraged over their dismissal, and any of the four could have snatched up the knife. The fifth woman, the new one in his life, came forward at once. She had no motive and she did have an alibi. She was simply not a suspect.
    I interviewed all four women and found each to be astonished at the existence of the other three and that astonishment could not have been faked to a skilled investigator such as myself. I couldn't help feeling a great respect for Irresistible's ability to keep each one of his many women believing she was the only one.
    Black-hair was firm on the irresistibility of the murdered man. "There was something about him," she said.
    "Exactly what?" I asked.
    "I'm not sure I can say."
    "Extremely good-looking?" (I knew he wasn't. I had seen photographs.)
    "No. Quite ordinary."
    "Beautiful voice?"
    "Not particularly."
    "Educated? Cultured? Witty?"
    "Who cares about that?"
    "Good in bed?"
    "Reasonably. I was attracted before I got to that."
    "But you don't know exactly what it was that made him attractive."
    "I can't say."
    All four agreed on that. No one could put her finger on what it was that made him irresistible, but they all agreed he was.
    I asked Red-hair if he used some particularly fetching aftershave lotion.
    She said, "He didn't use any scent at all. Scentless soap. Scentless deodorant. That's something I liked about him, because I can't abide strong perfumes, either on my men or on myself."
    That was one thing the four women had in common. They did not tend to choke you under a heavy pall of fragrant chemicals.
    Brown-hair was the only one who showed sorrow. She kept sniffing and her eyes were red. She said she didn't think any of them could have done it.
    "Weren't you annoyed at his callous behavior?" I asked.
    "Oh, yes, but only when I was away from him. Out of his presence, I could get pretty angry and furious." She blew her nose. "But when I was with him, that all melted away. All I knew was that I wanted him and wanted to be with him. There was just something about him. I'm sure the others felt the same way."
    Just something about him. That was all I could get out of any of them.
    Blond-hair seemed the most rattle-pated, the most willing to talk.
    "How did you meet the man?" I said.
    She said, "It was at a party. No one introduced us. I saw him off in the corner and I paid no attention. He was perfectly ordinary-looking and he didn't exactly catch my eye. But then I passed him and I couldn't help but notice something attractive about him. I just stopped and said, 'Hello.' He looked up and smiled and said, 'How are you?' and that's how we met."
    "Something about the smile?" I asked. "A certain roguish charm?"
    "N-no," she said. "Ordinary smile. We talked for a while. I don't remember about what."
    "But you remember it was a fascinating conversation? Brilliant even?"
    "N-no. I don't remember it at all. It must have been just ordinary. Still, he took me to his apartment and it was just wonderful being with him."
    "Skillful at sex?"
    "Not bad. I've had better. But it was just wonderful being with him."
    She agreed with Brown-hair that in the actual presence of Irresistible she would not have been able to hurt him no matter what he did. All four agreed on that.
    There was the possibility that the women were right. Perhaps not one of them had done it; perhaps it had been a male burglar. Presumably Irresistible did not exert his fascination on males. A telephone call to the commissioner quashed that. No signs of forcible entry