“She was crying as she packed her bag, and I could see that she was very angry. Molly’s an easygoing person. It takes a lot to ruffle her. In all the years I’d worked there, I’d never once seen her so upset. She kept saying, ‘How could he? How could he?’ I asked her if there was anything I could do.”

“What did she say?”

“She said, ‘You can kill my husband.’ ”

“ ‘You can kill my husband!’ ”

“I knew she didn’t mean it. I just thought they’d probably had an argument, and I figured she was leaving for the Cape to cool down.”

“Did she often go off like that? Just pack up and leave?”

“Well, Molly likes the Cape; says she can clear her head there. But this was different-I’d never seen her leave like this, so upset.” She looked at Molly, sympathy in her eyes.

“All right, Mrs. Barry, let’s go back to that Monday morning, April 9th. What did you do after you’d seen the condition of the kitchen?”

“I went to see if Dr. Lasch was in the study. The door was closed. I knocked, and there was no answer. I turned the knob and noticed it felt sticky. Then I pushed open the door and saw him.” Edna Barry’s voice quivered. “He was slumped over in his chair at the desk. His head was caked with dried blood. There was blood all over him and the desk and the chair and the carpet. I knew right away he was dead.”

Listening to the housekeeper’s testimony, Molly thought back to that Sunday night. I came home, let myself in, locked the front door, and went down to the study. I was sure Gary would be there. The door was closed. I opened it… I don’t remember what happened after that.

“What did you do then, Mrs. Barry?” the prosecutor asked.

“I dialed 9-1-1 right away. Then I thought about Molly, that maybe she was hurt. I ran upstairs to her bedroom. When I saw her in there, on the bed, I thought she was dead too.”