Free Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories by Mary Higgins Clark Page B

the Wilson Agency?”
    â€œNo. She worked for the Ford Agency. She was always telling Miss Alexandra to dump Wilson and sign up with Ford. Oh, and I should tell you I was cleaning out the medical chest in Miss Alexandra’s bathroom. I swear there were two unopened jars of Beauty Mask there. Now one of them is gone.”
    â€œMrs. Cooper, thank you very much. We will pick up the other jar. And I must tell you something in deepest confidence. The following is information you cannot share with anyone. The body that was found in the apartment was not Alexandra Saunders.”
    He heard a gasp on the other end of the phone. “Oh, thanks be to God.”
    Twaddle continued. “Mrs. Cooper, again it is crucial to our investigation to know where Miss Saunders has been staying since Monday. If you hear from her, you must notify us immediately.”
    â€œOf course I will,” Emma said. “Thanks be to God.”
    Twaddle broke the connection. Without looking at the others in the room, he dialed information and asked for the number of the Ford Agency. When he inquired about Lisa Markey, he was put through to her booking agent. In an irritated voice the agent told him that Lisa had not arrived this morning where she was scheduled to pose for the fall line of a designer. “Do you know where I can reach her?” she asked.
    â€œI’m afraid not,” Twaddle said.
    He hung up the phone and looked at Janice, Mike and Ben.
    â€œI believe it is possible we have learned the identity of the young woman who was murdered last night,” he said.
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    On Friday morning in Windham, New York, a popular Catskills ski resort, Alexandra stirred, then opened her eyes. She blinked to orientherself. She looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was almost noon.
    She sat up and swung her legs to the floor. Her long blonde hair spilled around her shoulders and she brushed it away from her face. She stood up and reached for the robe she had borrowed from Lisa. Putting it on she realized that this was the day she would finally see Janice and Mike. Lisa had promised to pick them up at the airport last night, take them to the apartment, and tell them to meet Alexandra up here. How great it would be to see them and meet Mike! They probably slept late because of the time difference between New York and London. They should be here by mid-afternoon.
    I want to tell Mike what’s been happening to me. From everything Janice has written and said about him, he’ll make sense of what’s been going on. I just don’t trust myself anymore.
    She walked unsteadily the few steps into the hall to the only bathroom. She turned on the light and looked into the mirror over the sink. She studied the face staring back at her. Her skin that had been pasty gray and blotchy when she was in Venice had now fully returned to its normal healthy glow. It was in her eyes that she saw the greatest change. They had been so heavy-lidded and dull but were now completely clear. Alexandra remembered that only a few months ago a gossip columnist had referred to them as “intensively blue and unforgettable.” I look like myself again, Alexandra thought. I could redo that commercial in a heartbeat. The only difference, she realized, was the feeling of fatigue she had not been able to shake off since she had been in Venice. I need a cup of coffee, she thought.
    When she had fled to Lisa’s apartment on Monday evening, it wasn’t necessary to explain that she wasn’t well. Lisa had taken one look at her and said, “What’s the matter with you? You look terrible.”
    Alexandra had told Lisa that she just needed to get away from the pressure. “Damn this Beauty Mask booking,” she had told her. “I know they’ll want to do retakes quickly and look at me.”
    She walked into the small rustic living room/den, realized how dark it was and turned on the light.