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“Were you sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know you weren’t apart, if you were asleep?” Ellery pointed out.

“Okay. She was sleeping. I was mostly awake.” Oscar made a face. “The truth is, I spent most of the night staring out the window, wondering how we’re going to handle this. I’m in L.A. She’s in New York. How do we make it work?”

Ellery’s brows shot up. “I didn’t realize this was—” Serious. He’d sort of assumed that Tosh and Oscar were just enjoying a little, er, auld lang syne.

“I always thought Tosh was terrific,” Oscar said. “But she was with Freddie and I was with Belle. The timing was never right. And then we were on opposite sides of the country. Which we still are.”

“Right. Well... So, neither of you left the room at any time during the night?”

“Correct.”

“Do you know if anyone else left their room?”

“Chelsea was in and out of her room.”

Ellery cocked his head. “Was she? When?”

“Right after she came upstairs, I heard her go next door to Freddie’s room. I heard them talking and laughing. I heard her go back to her room. Then I heard Freddie on the phone. To his agent, I think. That’s how it sounded to me.”

“I didn’t think the walls were that thin.”

“Freddie’s used to projecting to the back row, I guess. Anyway, it was still early on the West Coast. They talked for a long time. I kind of lost track because Tosh and I were...more focused on each other at that point.”

“Gotcha.”

“I did hear Chelsea leave her room again, but I don’t know what time it was. She didn’t go to back to Freddie—although she did the night before.”

“Didshe?”

“Yeah. I think she stayed, but I couldn’t swear to it.”

“Right. But last night, she didn’t go back to Freddie’s room?”

“No. I heard her trying to tiptoe down the hall, but there’s no missing those squeaky floorboards. Best guess? She was on her way downstairs.”

“You don’t know what time that was?”

“No. It was still relatively early, though. She was going after Tosh’s photos, I bet.”

Probably. That would be Ellery’s bet, too.

“Did you hear her come back?”

“No.”

“Did you hear anyone else leave their room?”

“No. Well, I think I finally dozed off about then. Because it was a lot later and I was sound asleep when I heard that scream. It scared the hell out of me. I thought it was Tosh for a second.”

Ellery felt a flicker of alarm. “But Tosh hadn’t left the room, right?”

“No. She was sound asleep until then.” Oscar smiled faintly. “She has the cutest little snore. But no. The scream scared her awake, too.”

Freddie was up next.