Scene 18

     As John turned the corner, he saw Lisa sitting on the terrace in the morning sunshine, sipping her coffee and appearing as if she owned the place.

     "Come on Chelsea, she's here." Chelsea had fallen behind while taking in the beauty of the Westing estate. She ran a few steps to catch up.

    As John walked up the stairs to the terrace, Lisa saw him and quickly put down her cup. Raising her hands to her mouth as if she was being approached by a ghost, Lisa looked genuinely surprised to see him.

     "What are earth happened to you?" Her expression of surprise seem to fade as quickly as it had appeared. "You look horrible! And who's that with you...Chelsea. Well, my, to what do I owe this dubious honor?"

     "Knock it off, Lisa! We're on to you."

     "You're on to me? What does that mean?" She lifted her cup to her lips while her eyes moved back and forth between the two of them. Her own eyes showed no fear, only a faint sense of amusement.

     "We know you killed Toby."

     "And you left me for dead, " John added.

      Lisa laughed.

     "You must be joking! How did you two dream that up?" Lisa held up a copy of the newspaper. "It says right here. Toby committed suicide. "

     "With your help." John moved in closer to Lisa. "Why didn't you leave the liquor cabinet unlocked? Then it would have been more believable that Toby helped herself to a bottle of tequila. You messed up. You locked it after you got the bottle for her. You were there, Lisa. You gave her the tequila. You gave her the cocaine. And you wrote that bogus suicide note. Yes, I know the note was bogus because Toby thought I had killed Theresa! She wouldn't have took the blame. But you, on the other hand, you needed someone to take the blame! Didn't you, Lisa?"

     Lisa stood up and pressed her fingertips to her temples.

     "Oh, please!! Stop your insufferable whining!" She paced to the edge of the terrace and then turned to face them. "Well, I must say I am proud of you. Inspector Colombo and Nancy Drew. Who would have thought this would come out of the two dumbest people I know. Since you already think you know so much, I might as well tell you the rest of it."