Todd was almost nervous to go back to the sunroom, even though he knew better. Of course the massive snake would be gone.
And, of course, it was.
“So, what now, I wonder?” he said.
Whitney didn’t respond. Instead she knelt on the floor by a pile of shattered glass.
“Looks like she was having a drink again, surprise, surprise,” she said.
Todd forced out a laugh. Whitney stood and looked at him evenly.
“Alcoholism is not funny,” she said. “It’s a serious infliction.”
“Doesn’t the devil cause it?” he asked, surprised by his own sassiness.
“Of course,” she said. If she knew he was making fun of her, she didn’t show it.
“Well, I don’t think it matters for Jessica anymore,” he said.
“How can you be so insensitive?” Whitney snapped.
Todd declined to point out that she hadn’t exactly been a bleeding heart of sympathy herself for many of the other crimes.
The rest of the room looked surprisingly normal for having just had a twenty-foot man-eating python in it just an hour earlier. The only other item that seemed out of place was an air vent along the far wall, near the floor. It was open on its hinges and lying on the floor.
“Must be how the snake got in,” Todd said.
“Yeah, you’d know about getting snakes in wouldn’t you?” Whitney said.
Todd wanted to laugh, but it was too confusing a statement to really be all that funny.
“What?”
“Never mind,” Whitney said.
“No, what did you mean by that?” Todd said, not letting it go.
“Nothing.”
“Are you accusing me of being the killer?”
“No, I was referring to your indiscretions with Cathy. Those who live in sin will die in sin you know,” Whitney said. “It’s been happening around us all week.”
“That doesn’t even make sense!”
“It will when you’re at the Gates and facing your judgment,” Whitney said.
“Yeah, okay, whatever,” he said, growing annoyed. “By the way, Cathy and I haven’t even done anything. We maybe kissed once but that’s it. Is kissing a sin now?”
“No, but impure thoughts are.”
This time Todd did laugh. The way he saw it, he didn’t know what other reactions were even possible.
They kept searching in silence but failed to find anything else of interest. All in all, Todd didn’t feel especially encouraged by a shattered Bloody Mary glass and an open vent. He just had to hope that Cathy would have more luck during her investigation.