"Seconds out of the ring," murmured Jammy, and hit the rim of his glass with his fingernail so that it made a light "ping."
But there was to be no fight. Clements provided a distraction.
"What I want to know," he drawled, "is not what Lydia found in the stars but what the police found at Westover."
"What I want to know is who did her in?" Judy said, taking a large bite of sandwich. "Judy!" Marta protested.
"Oh, bunk!" said Judy. "You know we're all thinking the same thing. Going around the possibilities. Personally I plump for Jason. Has anyone any advance on Jason?"
"Why Jason?" Clements asked.
"He's one of these smoldering types, all passion and hot baths."
"Smolder! Jason!" Marta protested. "What nonsense! He simmers. Like a merry kettle." Grant glanced at her. So she was sticking up for Jason? How much did she like him? "Jason's much too volatile to smolder."
"Anyhow," Clements said, "men who take hot baths don't commit murder. It's the cold-plungers who see red. They are possessed by a desire to get back on life for the suffering they have endured."
"I thought masochists were rarely sadists," Grant said.