Free Suspicion of Guilt by Barbara Parker

drawer. She dropped the ashtray inside and took out a can of air freshener, laughing at herself. "I've really got to stop this. Jessica has a blue fit if she catches anybody smoking in here." Two quick sprays left the scent of roses.
    Gail looked out. A white Lincoln had stopped under the portico fifty yards farther toward the rear of the building. A man in a dark suit opened the rear door of the car. His hand went inside. He steadied himself and pulled.
    Jessica Simms, her face obscured by big round sunglasses, emerged slowly, ducking her head to keep her straw hat from catching on the door frame. As she stood up, she shook the folds of her dress, a muumuu with short, puffy sleeves. The flowered cotton could have upholstered a chaise in a lady's boudoir. Her legs, clad in off-white hose, tapered into tiny green flats. She glanced at her watch and said something to the chauffeur, who nodded and closed the limo door. Jessica Simms disappeared into the building.
    Gail waved a quick good-bye to her mother and caught up with Jessica in a corridor leading to the backstage area. "Mrs. Simms?"
    She turned slowly, all bosom and hips, a head shorter than Gail. The sunglasses were off now, perhaps stowed in one of the patch pockets of her dress. The brim of her green straw hat tilted upward. "Yes?"
    "I'm Gail Connor, Irene's daughter."
    "Indeed. The lawyer. How are you, Gail. Is Irene here?"
    "Yes, in the office. Mrs. Simms, I wonder if I could talk to you for a moment. It's about Althea Tillett."
    "Althea?" She frowned at the double doors at the end of the corridor. Beyond them a piano was playing, the notes muffled. "I have a meeting with the production staff. What about Althea?"
    In the thirty seconds it had taken to dash along the hallways, Gail had decided what approach to use with Jessica Simms. Lie.
    "Her nephew Patrick Norris came to see me this week. We knew each other in law school, and he had some questions of a legal nature. Perhaps you have met Patrick?"
    Jessica Simms's pink mouth made a little smile. "I have."
    "He asked me to look into the circumstances surrounding the signing of his aunt's will. He wonders if she might have been under a strain at the time. You were one of Althea Tillett's friends. She asked you to witness her will. You could tell me what occurred that day."
    "Does he believe that Althea was ... incompetent?'
    "He is concerned about that, yes."
    From the auditorium a tenor began to sing. Gail recognized the piece: the death scene in the final act. For a few moments Jessica Simms looked down the corridor, then shifted her eyes back to Gail. "He is concerned, is he? I would venture to say that what concerns Patrick Norris is the fact that Althea did not leave enough money to suit him."
    "Are you aware of the amount?"
    "I believe it was well over two hundred thousand dollars. Forgive my candor, but I personally would not have left him a dime. He should be grateful."
    The piano stopped. There was laughter, then piano and tenor resumed. Gail said, "What about her stepchildren? How was her relationship with Rudy and Monica Tillett?"
    Mrs. Simms smiled. "I really couldn't say."
    "She didn't talk about them?"
    "Now and then she might have. Nothing I could recollect now."
    "You're aware she left them her house and her entire art collection." "Is that so?"
    "Althea didn't discuss the contents of the will with you?"
    A steady gaze. "I only witnessed the will. I was not aware—Althea did not tell me, nor did I ask—what was contained in it."
    "Then how did you know about the bequest to Patrick?" Gail asked.
    "How? I presume it came up in conversation."
    Gail hesitated. She had too few facts to start pushing hard on Jessica Simms. "Could you tell me where the signing took place?"
    "Alan Weissman's office," Mrs. Simms said patiently. "He was Althea's attorney. Mine too, in fact. He represents many of our friends. If Althea had been under a strain, Alan would never have allowed her to sign the will." She gave