“You saw,” she said. “You tried to frame us, Mal— you tried to frame Carrie and me.”
I widened my eyes. “Ease off with the rod,” I suggested. “It might go off.”
She didn’t ease off with the rod. She narrowed her eyes a little more and swore softly but nastily.
“You tried to frame us, Mal,” she said again.
I groaned. “Didn’t I stand you a getaway from the house next to the Widow’s?” I muttered. “I got you clear of Butman, didn’t I?”
She smiled with her lips. “So you could frame us later,” she said. “Or maybe so you could get Butman.”
I started to get up from the chair. But Virgie said no sharply and shifted the angle of the rod’s muzzle. I sat back and argued. Carrie was still in the bathroom, and the water was still running. No one was bothering us from outside.
“You know damned wel
