It was a bit of a dilemma for Sigismund and Renfrew. As much as Sigismund wanted Renfrew to help him solve Orly's murder, he could just see the reaction of the people in court when he reported that (1.) the murder victim's ghost had been communicating with an android, and (2.) the murder "weapon" had been one of Miss Marvel's cutesy bathmats.

The reader might wonder why this would be an obstacle. Well, Miss Marvel – real name Marvella Rising Star – was a bit much. She fancied herself as an expert on pretty much everything. From the tender age of fourteen, when she designed a casino and supervised its construction, Marvella had continually amazed much of the world with the range of things she could do. If she wore a diamond, it was safe to assume that she had mined, ground, and polished it herself. Her exquisite shoes were made of leather that she tanned herself. Could she bake a cherry pie? Yes, but you didn't dare ask for her recipe, for she would go on about the type of trees she had planted, the fertilizers she had used, the methods of fending off insect pests, and the type of stones she used to grind the flour in the crust. And the design on Orly's bathmat was sure to be something no self-respecting man would be caught dead – if you'll excuse the expression – with in his bathroom.

"I guess you're wondering how I happened to know Marvella," Orly continued. "She has her studio in that grand mansion across the lake. A few months ago the two of us were fishing in the same cove one day. Well, she was fishing. I had caught nothing. Then our lines got tangled..."

"That's a fishy story if I ever heard one," Sigismund said.

"She had already caught six times as many fish as I had, so it wasn't a big deal for her," Orly went on. "She was kind enough to share some of them with me. She even invited me to her place and fixed me the most succulent dinner of poached fish and gnocchi and Pears Belle Helene. It was heavenly!"

"She did that for a perfect stranger?" Sigismund exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, her sixteen luncheon guests had all called to cancel. I guess they were afraid of being stranded in her house during that hurricane that was on its way. She didn't want the meal to be a total waste."

"That still doesn't explain how her bathmat got into your bathroom."

"That was a totally new product she was testing. Or rather products. She gave me five different designs to see which I preferred."

"Don't tell me, let me guess," Sigismund said. "One had a hydrangea pattern in celadon. Another was a calico cat. A third was a gray pattern with white snowflakes. The fourth was a Christmas bathmat with a gingerbread design. The fifth was a cotton jacquard in a grape hyacinth color."

Orly went silent. Finally, he said, "I forgot that you inventoried my belongings. But I thought you didn't find any of my bathmats."

Sigismund went to a file cabinet in a corner of the room and came back with a Marvella product catalog. "I didn't, but I was saving this to give as a gag gift at Christmas," he said. "Apparently you approved all the designs."

"Didn't get a chance," Orly said. "I died two days after I received them."

"Could she have sent someone over to retrieve them, and they were so embarrassed at surprising you that they took the mats and ran?" Sigismund wondered.

"We should ask her," Renfrew said.

Paulh