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IT WAS EASY for hio over the brick wall up the road and buh the woods to reach the house--not that that was too much trouble Most of the time I was incorporeal, and passed over the terrain the way Escott&039;s pipe smoke drifted out the car

In a bodiless state the as no probleh the wilderness I just didn&039;t like s to complain about

I had to pause and re-forood speed, swiftly flowing between the solid bulk of the tree trunks until I ithin spitting distance of the garage After that I took ht vision was equal to my own, and unlike normal humans he could spot e, I checked each of the cars: an early Ford on blocks, a Rolls, a Caddy, and a brand-nehite Studebaker I dutifully wrote their plate numbers in my notebook and looked over their paperwork All of them were owned by Ee was occupied by tomen, both comfortably asleep They had separate roo in the closets that identified theh their purses to get their na the maidens to drain into terminal anemia, I was a total washout

The stables were next, and were just as quiet The horses ht visits Two stood in stalls and sixcorral None of them did more than cock an interested ear in my direction

Upstairs, a section had been converted to living quarters, and I found a youngaway in his bed His place was cluttered with horsey-slish and Western styles, and other related junk He had a modest collection of Zane Grey novels on a shelf and below theazines whose pictured contents were anything but ain, I quietly raided a wallet for identification

The easy stuff out of the way, I oozed through the back door of the ht over one of the electric stoves kept it fro totally dark Various doors opened to a hall, the dining rooed to a semi-transparent state for silence and speed, and sailed down the stairs

The walls were very solid concrete and the massive house above ell supported by a forest of thick pillars I went solid for a ular drip of water fro in the still air, coainst a brick wall opposite the stairs It was only a basement and a waste of my time

I was halfway back to the kitchen when it hit ain and checked the brickwork Not being an expert, I couldn&039;t tell if it was part of the original building or not, but h the bricks

It was sloork, like walking through sticky oat at all and the as nearly a foot thick It seeain, to re-form for a look around

On this side the bricks were hidden by fine oak paneling, and the utilitarian presence of the support pillars had been softened by similar decoration Some of them had been converted into four-sided bookshelves, each loaded with hundreds of titles A thick rug coveredand several lamps held back the darkness The chairs and sofas looked comfortable and the air was fresh

Barrett had done very well for himself

He&039;d said his room was fireproof and secure, qualities which struck me as wise precautions It was no wonder varaveyards; few things are more fireproof or private than a stone mausoleum But this base I ht have planned for myself I was frankly envious

The entrance to his sanctum was a heavy industrial-typeIt led to a carpeted hall and a flight of steps going up to a door with access to the ground floor Both were locked, which was sensible I went back down again and got nosy

His quarters consisted of a large living area, bedrooe, with a fancy ehtstand held some personal clutter His carpet slippers lay jumbled on the floor next to it

I cautiously looked under the brocaded blue bedspread and plain white sheets and found a doubled thickness of oilcloth stretched over the es, but I could tell by the weight and feel that it contained his hoement, one that I intended to adapt for myself, now that I had the idea

Beyond the bedroom was a spotless white-tiled bath, supplied with the usual appointments, except that the cabinet over the sink lacked a mirror It was an easily understandable omission

His closet was stocked with a nurays for his business wear, had two tuxedos, and so rack contained a rainbow of shins, ties, and handkerchiefs Al was silk

At the back of the closet was a big antique trunk It was banged up, but in good, solid condition It was also locked, but I could guess he had a spare supply of earth inside in case he felt a need to travel

I heard a footfall just outside the room and damn near panicked

Stupidly, I had an idea he&039;d use a key, but he no more needed a key than I did He had slipped inside the same silent way I froze absolutely still, afraid he&039;d hearI could certainly hear his every movement Two soft thumps indicated he&039;d removed his shoes and other, less distinct sounds I interpreted as hi I had a wild hope he wouldn&039;t bother with the closet and abruptly discarded it as he padded ; Iplace and spotted a ventilation grate in the ceiling In the tirasp the knob of the closet door and swing it open, I&039;d vanished and swept up into the narrow shaft

Even in a disembodied state it was uncoht lead to the furnace I&039;m not usually claustrophobic, but a few h for o back to the closet, but if I didn&039;t get out soon, ain Since the shaft see I wanted to happen

I flowed along thefor the best and trying not to think about furnaces After that I got lost; in this non-physical state it&039;s al so you lose all sense of direction and can surface for air only to buainst the botto, just barely ain, which was a great ie unyielding surfaces and guessed theuess to be correct The roo ether The next tiet it hi the rabbit in a tunnel was not my idea of fun

After a few h to move on and find out where I&039;d ended up A look out aconfir the front lawn, though I wasn&039;t close to any inhabited areas The rooms I checked were dark and very much underfurnished It didn&039;t seem to be from any lack of money, simply lack of interest The house had been built for socializing and entertaining lots of guests, so Emily Francher actively avoided I wondered why herhall I discovered Emily&039;s suite of rooed in every comfort and convenience More French s opened onto the back veranda and were so heavily curtained as to be lightproof If she stayed up to keep Barrett coht, she was likely to be a very late sleeper, but just to be sure I checked under the bedclothes No oilcloth flats of earth lurked beneath the sheets E the day she slept alone

Her favorite colors were red, gold, and white; the decor was expensive, of course, but not overpowering I poked through drawers and found clothes and vanity ite diary The bedside table contained a Bible, several used-up crossword-puzzle books, pencils, a copy of Anthony Adverse, and a big, nearly full bottle of sleeping pills

Her walk-in closet was larger than Barrett&039;s, held enough clothes to open a store, but even my uneducated male eye could tellcases in one corner caught my attention One was open and contained those few pieces of jewelry she hadn&039;t worn tonight: a couple of gold bracelets, sos, and a pearl necklace The other case was locked and wouldn&039;t budge On closer look both proved to be made of thick e metal plate bolted to the floor Emily was careless, but not co her room, I moved down the hall and invaded Barrett&039;s private office The rolltop part of the desk was locked and I couldn&039;t open it withouttraces The draere open, but only contained the usual supplies If neatness counted for anything, Barrett earned his keep well enough

I was starting down the central stairs to the front hall and nearly blundered into hiain A door below opened and shut, followed by swift, decisive footsteps Backing up the stairs, I crouched behind the railings, keeping very still He eainst the marble floor as he crossed the hall to the parlor

As for the rest of his clothesI felt erous; I opted to slip outside again and h the parlorThe curtains were thin enough; I very et a second look at the ht now came from the fireplace E settee, where she reclined, still clad in her diah waist on her gar frolow from the fire added to the illusion of the far past

Barrett was leaning against the lied his business suit for a costu, open-necked white shirt with loose, full sleeves, so pants, and a supple pair of boots All he needed noas a fancy coat and sword, orpistols to co over his forehead, he looked like a friendlier version of Bronte&039;s Heathcliff

The intervening glassout their voices

"I don&039;t think they&039;ll be back," he was saying to her "They just had a few questions about someone I once knew"

"What about her?" she asked "That young man seemed very anxious to find her"

He shook his head "I think they&039;ll look elsewhere now"

"You&039;re still troubled"

"Only because I don&039;t want the you"

"My protector," she said, and broke into a sudden s evidence of the pretty young woman she had once been He smiled as well and ca one of her hands in both of his Her eyes clouded with doubt "Will it be different for us, do you think?"

He kissed her hand quickly, reassuringly "I certainly hope so dearest

I will do everything possible to make it so for you" He caressed her face tenderly and kissed her forehead "I promise"

"Really?" The playfulness was back in her expression

"I&039;ll show you"

He undid her choker necklace and kissed her forehead again, then her eyes, then herher body close to his own Her head tilted back and hepossessively over the two faint marks on her throat that the choker had concealed

Her own ar on the back of his neck to help guide hih her whole body in response He stayed there, drinking fro ti a blue streak How do you knohere to draw the line between curiosity and voyeurism? I went transparent, pushed away into the darkness beyond the , and floated around the corner of the house

That they were lovers was no stunning surprise Their style of going about it was much more sedate than some of the wild tumbles that Bobbi and I had shared, but to each his own Despite their quiet method, the passion was there, and I could syet stirred up ht hundred miles away As for the horses in the backyard--they were for food, not sex There is a very decided difference between the two, at least for me I&039;d just have to hike around in the woods until the pleasant frustration wore off, and try to o Bobbi wouldn&039;tme was Barrett&039;s wish for us to stay away

Maybe he was afraid we&039;d be rocking the sweet little boat he&039;d gotten for himself as Emily Francher&039;s secretary On the other hand, he&039;d have to be a better actor than Escott if that love scene I&039;d just watched had been a fake If he genuinely loved her, then he&039;d want to protect her from his past indiscretions and present troubles Put in his place, I&039;d be doing the sa if things would be different for the about a better relationship than he&039;d had with Maureen or whether Barrett&039;s attentions would bring her back when she died? I was inclined to think it was the latter, since she didn&039;t seem to know all thatlousy at lying ht noas too interested in finding Maureen to want to give anyone the benefit of a doubt

The sound of radio hts It came from some open French s on the second floor and reminded me that there was at least one other member of the household

I drifted up and steadiedjust outside the fan of light filtering through the lacy white curtains

Laura Francher, the lithe blond I&039;d seen swie mirror that nearly covered one wall of her bedrooht, but she wasn&039;t bothering with any ballet practice at theto the music of Rudy Vallee; her eyes shut as she danced with a pretend partner Her feet were bare, but then so was the rest of her

I hung back in the shadows and settled into solidity again I only wanted to be able to hear the radio better Honest

I noted with quick interest that she was a natural blond It was certainly fascinating, but I didn&039;t think Escott would find that particular detail ofto kick up again, though at tiirl did to occupy herself alone in her roo I reflected that this kind of detecting could easily becoive myself just one more minute and then move on

When theand by then I was speculating what she&039;d look like perfor a fast rumba when she abruptly stopped and scaed a second later, hastily belting up a bright yellow bathrobe S hair, she opened the door

It was Barrett and she let him in

He was still in his poet&039;s costu less relaxed than he&039;d been with Emily The whites of his eyes were solid red, still suffused with her blood Their condition didn&039;t seeh The radio continued to blare, which was bad for me since I couldn&039;t hear a word of their conversation It was like watching a play through a telescope

Barrett was obviously uncomfortable, but Laura appeared not to notice and settled in at her dressing table to brush out her thick, straight hair Her loosely tied bathrobe was starting to come apart with the activity She didn&039;t bother to correct things Barrett had called her a child, and so she o--not anymore Her everywoently took the hairbrush fro her undivided attention He&039;d finally worked hiroundI could read lips

As he spoke, Laura&039;s face grew cool and lost all expression She studied her reflection in the mirror above the table Barretts&039; own lack of reflection in it was nothing new to her, either He ran out of words eventually and waited for soirl shed out a reply

Barretts&039; mouth opened; he was surprised and relieved at once Their talk continued, apparently along the lines of questions and reassurances until both were s now that his errand was out of the way, and watched as she retrieved her brush and resumed work on her hair

Her robe was still more than a little loose and her movements opened it wider He spoke to her and she looked up and se eyes, the kind that were e and experience, Barrett was no less vulnerable to them than anyone else, th of her shining hair

She liked it but was content only to look at him and to wait for his next move He obviously wanted her, his expression h, but not just yet He stood up, , and let himself out the door She stared after him, then turned back to the mirror to smile patiently at herself As far as she was concerned, his upcoone conclusion

The car was at a slight tilt where it rested off the shoulder of the road The night-shadowed landscape beyond the windshield looked askew fro, which more or less suited my state of etting an earful My description of the house and staff lacked for no detail, but when I got around to Barrett&039;s relationship with E Escott noticed, but chose not to co on his pipe He continued to do so long after I&039;d wound down and stopped

"Well?" I asked The crickets out in the woods had held the floor long enough "What do you think?"

His pipe had gone dead Frowning absently, he tapped it e "I think this needs more study," he stated

"More study?"

"But you&039;ve done soh et busy with these tomorrow and try to follow up on the destination of Maureen&039;s departing cab"

He saw my disappointment and added, "Our other alternative is to wait indefinitely on Barrett"

We&039;d given hi address in Chicago so he could send us word of Maureen Toh thewould corowled

Escott nodded agreeht I woke up in a strange roo when you don&039;t expect it, and I didn&039;t

My trunk was shoved against a wall too close for the lid to hinge back so I had to sieve e of scene, then called to Escott to demand an explanation, except he wasn&039;t there to provide one He hadn&039;t left a note, but since his suitcase wascreases in the homemade quilt on one of the tidy beds, it was reasonable to expect him back sometime soon He knew my habits

I was surrounded by dark, heavy furniture, old-fashioned wallpaper, fra the As

Outside and one story doere huge trees, a gravel drive, cut lawn, fresh air, and a picturesque white picket fence We were probably not in Manhattan

The stationery on a tall bureau introducedIsland, and a thin brochure pointed out sites of historical interest It was so absorbing I dropped it flat the second Escott keyed the door and walked in

"I was a bit delayed," he apologized "I&039;d hoped to be back earlier in order to soften the shock"

"Too bad, I&039;ve used up all ht You missed a beaut when I came out and found this What&039;s with the ht it necessary and ation if we could be closer to the Francher estate This village happens to be where they do most of their local business"

"Itme and the trunk upstairs"

"I had help, but I&039;d rather not go into details at the present" Slowly and painfully, he stretched out on the other, uncluttered bed, and I noticed that he was looking very green at the edges

"You all right?"

"As well as can be expected after ie amounts of coffee, tea, and beer, mixed with sweetbreads, biscuits, pretzels, and salted nuts"

I looked doith sy stoht to do so

"Any reason why you put away all that stuff, or do you just go into a fit now and then?"

The tearooms, inns, and pubs of this tour-minded place require plenty of custoossip Did you know William Cullen Bryant used to live not far from here? They have a pair of his spectacles on display in a tearooently recommended to me as a pleasant diversion for the day"

"His spectacles?" I echoed, trying to sound impressed

"Indeed"

"Well, well Who&039;d have thought it?"

"Indeed" Charles"

He raised one hand so I could bear with him one more time "Tell me, as William Cullen Bryant?"

" Editor of the New York Evening Post back in the last century"

"No relation to the orator of the Scopes trial?"

"That was Willias Bryan, not Bryant" I wondered just how much he&039;d had to drink

He shut his eyes and gave in to a shudder "Have you ever tried to turn a conversation around from spectacles to house fires?"

I admitted that I&039;d never had the opportunity

"It does require soht at it If people sense you are eager to learn so specific, you end up with too much information or none at all Let the you need"

"How can you have too much information?"

"Many feel the plain truth is too plain and requires eot ood deal, mixed up with a half dozen other families, but the fire was an excellent point on which to focus their attention It was quite the nine-day wonder, and once the subject had been introduced, one thing led to another"

"So tellhis head, he began talking to the ceiling

"Violet Francher, the mother who died in the fire, was quite the proper and respectable dowager, but of the sort best adue, a te on the apoplectic, and I need hardlyservants for very long

"She was alone the night of the fire, as her housekeeper left her ehter Emily, ward Laura, and Mr Barrett were all at their own house Laura usually stayed with Violet during her spring holiday from school, but had moved in with Eeneral consensus is the girl was very lucky, or she uardian"

"It took place at night?"

"I&039;lad you noticed that I found it of extreme interest in conjunction with some other facts"

"What are they?"

"I&039; to thehter&039;s house as well?"