Her eyes flickered toward Hammond, but he didn’t need that glance to stir his memory.
“Now that the sun has gone down, it’s not so hot.”
She smiled up at him, the lights of the spinning carousel reflected in her eyes. “Actually, I like the heat.”
Hammond blinked Smilow back into focus.
“Did you go into the Charles Towne Plaza?”
“Yes. Around five o’clock. To get something to drink. A soft drink. I’m certain that’s where this Mr. Daniels saw me. That’s the only time and place he could have seen me because I was never on the fifth floor standing outside Mr. Pettijohn’s room.”
“He gave us a vivid account of you doing just that at around five o’clock.”
“He’s wrong.”
“You had a drink in the bar.”
“Just off the lobby, yes. Unsweetened iced tea.”
Steffi leaned toward Hammond and whispered. “The waitress bears th
at out. But that only confirms that at least two people saw her in the hotel.”
He nodded, but he didn’t comment because Smilow was asking another question, and he was interested in Alex’s answer.
“What did you do after finishing your drink?”
“I walked back to the parking lot where I’d left my car.”
“What time was that?”
“Five-fifteen. No later than five-thirty.”
Hammond’s knees went weak with relief. John Madison’s initial guess had placed the time of death later than that. So his silence was justified. Almost. If she were entirely innocent, the victim of a mistake made by a man suffering food poisoning, why hadn’t she reacted when he came in? Why had she pretended they’d never met? He had his reasons for keeping their meeting a secret. Obviously she did, too.
“I gave the parking lot attendant ten dollars, which was the smallest bill I had,” she was saying.
“That’s a very generous tip.”
“I thought asking for change would seem cheap. The lot was full and he was busy, but he had been very nice and polite.”
“What did you do after retrieving your car?”
“I left Charleston.”
“And went where?”
“To Hilton Head Island.”
Hammond swallowed audibly. So much for truth-telling. Why was she lying? To protect him? Or herself?
“Hilton Head.”
“Yes.”
“Did you stop anywhere along the way?”
“I stopped for gasoline.” She lowered her eyes, but only momentarily, and probably only Hammond noticed.