Dead Famous

DAY FORTY-THREE. 9.00 a.m.

The morning after Sally’s attempted suicide Coleridge was forced for the first time to allow a public statement to be issued, something which he believed to be no part of the police’s responsibilities. But Sally was out of danger, and the world press wanted to know whether the police intended to arrest her.

“No,” Coleridge said, reading laboriously from prepared notes, “there are no plans to arrest Miss Sally Copple for the murder of Miss Kelly Simpson, for the obvious reason that there is absolutely no evidence against her. Her own statements regarding a hereditary disposition towards murder and the fear that she might have done it while in a trance do not constitute grounds for an arrest. The investigation continues. Thank you and good day.”

After he had retreated into the building, Hooper and Trisha joined him.

“So what do you think, then, sir?” Hooper asked. “I mean, I know we have no proof, but do you think Sally did it?”

“I don’t,” Trisha said quickly, causing both Hooper and Coleridge to look at her curiously.

“I don’t think she did it either, Patricia,” said Coleridge. “And I don’t think she did not do it either.”

Coleridge was of course a show-off in his small way, and he enjoyed the confused looks that this little paradox engendered. “I know she did not do it,” he said. “The killer is without doubt still in place.”