Mary Ann turned around. "Acquittal? After what was said in court today?"
"Sure. My guess is that, since she wasn't a suspect, she was never Mirandized, so everything she told the police and everything she said in court is inadmissible. The only testimony against her is Cordovas, and he's already admitted that he couldn't distinguish between Beverly and Arrington in the robe."
"What about Vanessa Pike's murder?" Stone asked.
"There's no evidence against her," Marc replied, "or they would already have arrested her. Anyway, she may not have murdered Vanessa."
That was true, Stone thought, and the other possible suspect was in a mental hospital.
Marc opened the car door and offered Stone his hand. "Thanks for the fun," he said. "Now I've gotta go see my new client."
"And thank you, Marc. I'll get you a check tomorrow."
Dino drove away and pointed the car toward Bel-Air. "Hey, what was all that crowd of reporters after you about?"
Stone sighed and told them what had happened.
"Did Arrington see the paper?" He nodded.
"I'm afraid so."
They arrived back at the Calder house to find Manolo loading suitcases into the Bentley.
"Manolo," Stone asked, "is Mrs. Calder going somewhere?"
"Yes, sir," Manolo replied. "But you better ask her about that."
"She certainly packed fast," Stone said.
"Oh, she packed before we went to court," Manolo said. "And on the way home, she called Mr. Regenstein from the car. The Centurion airplane is waiting for her at Santa Monica."
Stone went into the house, followed by Dino and Mary Ann. Arrington was coming out of the bedroom. He stopped her. "Can we talk?" he asked.
"I don't think we have anything to talk about," she said. "I'm going to Virginia to be with Peter and my mother, and I don't know when I'm coming back. Why don't you join Betty Southard in Hawaii? The two of you were made for each other. Or, perhaps, you could move in with Charlene Joiner."
He took her arm, but she snatched it away.
"Good-bye, Dino, Mary Ann," she said, kissing them both. "I'm sorry your stay wasn't as pleasant as it might have been."
"Don't worry about it," Dino replied.
"Something I want to know," Stone said. "The amnesia: Was it real?"
"It was at first. After I came home from the clinic, everything gradually came back to me."
"So what happened that evening?"
"I don't think I'm going to tell you," she said. "You still think I might have killed Vance, don't you?"
"No, I don't."
"Sure you do, Stone. Anyway, you'll never know for sure, will you?" And with that she turned and walked out of the house. A moment later, the Bentley could be heard driving away.
Isabel came into the room. "Lunch is served out by the pool," she said.
Dino took Stone's arm. "Come on, pal. You could use some lunch, and probably a drink, too."
Stone followed him outside, and the three of them sat down. Isabel brought a large Caesar salad with chunks of chicken and served them.