"Is that why you kissed him?"
She began to rock back and forth, the movement slight but significant as she fought to control her pain.
"I know I shouldn't have done it," she whispered. "I knew it then. I never would have done anything to cause Webb so much trouble. Jessie said I'd done it on purpose, that I knew she was coming down, but I didn't. I swear I didn't. He was being so sweet to me, and all of a sudden I couldn't resist it. I just grabbed him. He never had a chance."
"What did Jessie do?"
"She just started screaming at us. She called me all sorts of ugly names, and Webb, too. She accused us of-you know. Webb tried to tell her it wasn't like that, but Jessie never listened to anybody when she was pitching one of her fits."
The sheriff put his hand over hers, patting it.
"Roanna, I have to ask you this, and I want you to tell me the truth. Are you sure there's nothing between you and Webb? Have you ever had sex with him? This is a serious situation, honey, and nothing but the truth will do."
She gave him a blank look, then hot color washed into her white face.
"No!" she sputtered, and turned an even darker red.
"I've never-with anyone! I mean-" He patted her hand again, mercifully interrupting her mangled reply.
"There's no need to be embarrassed," he said kindly.
"You're doing the smart thing, placing such a high value on yourself."
Miserably Roanna thought that she didn't have a high value on herself at all; if at any time Webb had so much as crooked his finger at her, she would have come running and let him do whatever he wanted to her. Her virginity was due to his lack of interest, not her own morals.
"What happened then?" he prompted.
"They went upstairs, still arguing. Or rather, Jessie was. She was screaming at him, and Webb was trying to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen."
"Did she threaten to have him cut out of Lucinda's will?" Roanna nodded.
"But Grandmother just looked surprised. I was so relieved, because I couldn't have stood it if I caused Webb to lose Davencourt."
"Did you hear anything violent happening in their room?"
"Some glass breaking, then Webb yelled at her to go ahead and get a divorce, and he left."
"Did he tell her he'd do anything to get rid of her?"
"I think so," Roanna answered readily, knowing that the others had likely confirmed this. "I don't blame him. I'd have added my allowance to her alimony, if that would have helped."
The sheriff's lips twitched again.
"You didn't like Jessie?" She shook her head.
"She was always hateful to me."
"Were you jealous of her?"
Roanna's lips trembled.
"She had Webb. But even if she hadn't, I know that he wouldn't be interested in m-me. He never has been. He was nice to me because he felt sorry for me. After she caused such a ruckus last night-I mean after I caused it-I decided I might as well go away to college the way they'd been wanting me to do. Maybe then I could make some friends."
"Did you hear anything from their room last night after Webb left?"
Roanna shuddered, an image of Jessie as she'd last seen her flashing through her brain. She gulped.
"I don't know. Everybody was mad at me, even Webb. I was upset and went to my room. It's at the back of the house."
"All right now, Roanna, I want you to think carefully. When you go up the stairs, their rooms are across the front hall to the left. If there's a light on in the room, you can see it under the door. I checked that myself. When you went to your room, did you look in that direction?"
She remembered that very well. She had cast a fearful glance at Jessie's door, afraid she would come storming out of it like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, and she had tried to be very quiet so Jessie wouldn't hear her. She nodded.
"Was there a light on?"
"Yes." She was certain of it, because otherwise she would have thought Jessie had gone on into the connecting bedroom and thus wouldn't hear her.
"Okay, now tell me about later, when you found her. What time was it?"
"After two. I hadn't been asleep. I kept thinking how I'd messed everything up and caused Webb so much trouble."
"You were awake the entire time?" the sheriff asked sharply.
"Did you hear anything?"
She shook her head.
"I told you, my bedroom's on the back, away from everyone else. It's real quiet back there. That's why I like it."
"Could you tell when the others came up to bed?" "I heard Aunt Gloria in the hall about nine-thirty, but my door was closed and I couldn't tell what she was saying."
"Harlan said that he started watching a movie about eight. It shouldn't have been off at nine-thirty."
"Maybe he finished watching it in their room. I know they have a television in there, because Grandmother had a connection run for them before they moved in."
He pulled out his notebook and scribbled a few words, then said, "Okay, let's go back to when you went to Jessie's room this morning. Was the light on then?"
"No. I turned it on when I went in. I thought Jessie was in bed, and I was going in there to wake her up so I could talk to her. The light was bright, and I couldn't see good for a few minutes, and I-I stumbled over h-her."
She shuddered again and started shaking. The bright color of a moment before leached out of her face, leaving it chalky again.
"Why were you going to talk to her?"
"I was going to tell her that it wasn't Webb's fault, that he didn't do anything wrong. It was just me-being stupid, as