Lyle starts to say something, then stops. I look at him inquiringly. He reminds me that he talked to Ursula and Lois Wednesday morning. That leaves them out of the running as Paris’s twin was attacked on Wednesday. His news dismays me for a minute until I ask what time he saw them Wednesday morning. When I find out it was eight or so in the morning and that Lyle had stayed there just over half an hour, that put them back in the running. The assault happened around seven at night, so there would have been time for one of them to talk to Lyle in the morning, hop on a plane, do the dirty deed and be back in San Francisco before anyone was the wiser. The boys might not even have known she was gone. We are so engrossed in our discussion, I forget I was about to call Ursula’s sons.
Lyle wants to know to which she I am referring, and I shrug my shoulders. It could have been either, though the timing is tight. Even if they were in town, that doesn’t prove anything. Either one of them could have hired someone to try to kill Robin. In fact, that would probably be safer. Lyle doesn’t agree. He thinks paying someone else to kill Robin means there’s one more person who knows the secret and has the potential to blackmail the contractor. Besides, he can’t see Ursula hiring a hit man, especially as she’s so high-profile. Blackmailing her would be a cinch if she were stupid enough to hire a hit man. Lyle does agree that either Ursula or Lois could have flown to Minneapolis and attacked Robin, but just barely. Besides, if the assailant was a female, wouldn’t that have been mentioned?