POURING OUT THE LATEST confession to Abra had done wonders to concentrate Rafferty’s mind; he knew he wouldn’t have managed to shake loose some ideas about the murder, and who might have committed it, without Abra’s help. She had encouraged him to think in a more rounded fashion about every aspect of the case. He’d been bogged down and distracted as she had said – mostly by Mickey’s involvement – but also in the early days, by the sheer quantity of potential suspects.
Her comment as to how – why – the murderer had hit on Mickey as the patsy was a significant one—one he should have given greater thought to much earlier. As was her later comment about the type of murder it was: committed in the bedroom of a suite still populated with guests, it showed a certain arrogance on the part of the
