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white-haired woman old; the litde lost girl of the nineteen-forties would only be fifteen years his senior.
    Deserting her niece, Miss Winter hurried past Mallory and disappeared into a small powder room in the foyer. Every pair of eyes was on that closing door. Dazed by this abandonment, even Bitty Smyth was quietly keeping watch.
    When the old woman emerged, she held a glass of water in her hand and moved toward her niece, smiling, extending the glass, then holding it to Bitty’s lips and urging her to drink. „Big gulps, dear. Everything is all right.“
    Bitty Smyth stole a glance at Mallory, then shook her head slowly from side to side to say that this could not be true.
    „I’ve already given them my fingerprints.“ Nedda Winter settled her niece on the sofa. „There’s no harm in letting them take yours.“
    Heller pulled up a chair alongside the couch and gently took the tiny woman’s hand and kissed it.
    Well, this was new. The only one more startled than Bitty was Mallory.
    The head of Forensics was not only doing the work of underlings tonight but he was also in rare diplomatic form, and Mallory disapproved. She preferred her interview subjects unhinged and easier to intimidate – less work. Before Heller had inked the third finger, Bitty Smyth’s head lolled back on the upholstery and her eyes closed. Mallory turned on the older woman. „What did you put in that water?“
    „A sedative.“ Miss Winter opened her hand to show the label on the bottle. „This house almost qualifies as a pharmacy. These belong to my sister, Cleo.“
    This civilian was surprisingly unruffled. Mallory decided to work on that.
    While Heller finished the fingerprinting process, one of the medical examiner’s underlings returned to remind the detectives that the meat wagon was still waiting for the corpse. Mallory shot him a look to tell him that he should get out of here – now.
    Nedda Winter searched the remaining faces, then turned to Riker. „Mr. Butler is gone?“
    „Yeah,“ said Riker. „It didn’t take him long to check out the pictures in Bitty’s room.“
    „Is he going to make any trouble for my niece?“
    „I wouldn’t be surprised.“ Mallory glanced at the small woman asleep on the sofa. „By law, we had to warn him. We’re really scrupulous about that when we find the stalker at a crime scene with a dead body.“
    „My niece is harmless.“
    „You really believe that?“ Mallory opened her blazer, pausing a beat to display a very large gun and her authority in this room. „I’m surprised.“ Her hand passed over the weapon to dip into an inside breast pocket. She produced a wrinkled sheet of paper. „I found this in your bedroom wastebasket. It’s the same line written over and over again. ‘Crazy people make sane people crazy.’“ Mallory glanced at the small sleeper on the couch. „Was Bitty getting on your nerves?“
    The older woman looked as if she had just been slapped.
    Mallory edged closer. „Need to take a pill, Miss Winter? I saw all that medication in your room.“
    „I’m fine, thank you.“
    „Sit down,“ said Mallory, indicating a chair close to the corpse.
    Nedda Winter shook her head, defying a direct order and electing to stand. „I’ve been sitting for too long.“ With a slight lift of one shoulder, she said, „You know – old bones.“ And so her dignity remained intact – for the moment.
    „Really?“ Mallory made a wide circle around Miss Winter, forcing the woman to revolve. „The medical examiner says you’re in very good shape for your age. Good hearing and coordination. No confusion at all. Now Dr. Morgan thought that was strange… considering all of your meds. He said the high doses should’ve created massive confusion bordering on dementia, but you’re pretty sharp.“
    „Thank you.“
    Once more Mallory looked down at the sleeping niece. „Does Bitty know that you flush all those pills every day?“
    She noted just the barest inclination of