Her thin nostrils quivered as she expelled smoke. She exclaimed, “That’s an atrocious thing to say. Frank was going to divorce Nora.”
“That, of course, will be your story. And Frank’s. I’ll attempt to prove that Nora stood between you. I can produce several witnesses who will testify that Nora Carson was deeply in love with her husband and had no intention of giving him up without a fight.”
After a moment of strained silence, Olivia said, “All right. I’ll produce several witnesses of my own to prove that everything was ended between Frank and me before Nora was killed. That will effectually spike your nasty insinuations.”
“Do you mean the scene backstage after the play?”
“Yes. Several people witnessed it. Oh, I was properly humiliated.” Her mouth was a thin line of bitterness.
Shayne shrugged. “It happens, unfortunately, that Nora was killed some time before that scene took place.”
Olivia put the back of her hand to her mouth. For a moment, panic showed in her eyes. Then it cleared away. “If she was killed during the performance I certainly have an alibi. I was with a large party who had seats near the front.”
Shayne changed his tactics abruptly. “Disregarding the time element for a moment, why are you going on with the divorce if everything is over between you and Frank Carson?”
“The divorce has nothing to do with Frank,” she declared. “Not now. Not after last night. I have a few shreds of self-respect left.”
“Perhaps the divorce really had nothing to do with Frank all along,” Shayne suggested softly. “You’re too mature to fall for a young actor. Oh, you might play around with him, but I can hardly believe you were serious about marrying him. Are you sure you haven’t been using Frank as a blind? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it was actually you who engineered the smash-up last night.”