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"Wait" Escott arrested his ht you here as well"

"It was the story in the paper," he stated, his voice even

"Indeed"

Barrett didn&039;t like his look and started to rise again, and again Escott stopped him

"The other man as killed, John Henry Banks--what do you know about him?"

"Only what they said in the paper Why should I know anything about him?"

"He was the man who chauffeured Maureen away froo"

The revelation did no more than raise one eyebrow "He was?"

"We spoke to hi a veiled hat who hardly spoke to him"

"What a remarkable memory he must have had"

"Only because of the unusual nature of his fare"

"How so unusual?"

"Because it had been a very long drive for thee tip for his trouble"

Barrett shrugged "It&039;s a long road back to the city"

"But he did not take her to New York, he drove her to Port Jefferson"

"Port--"

"Why would anyone want to go to Port Jefferson?"

"To use the ferry to--" He broke off, his brows coether

"Would Maureen have had any reason to go to Bridgeport?" Escott asked, putting a very slight emphasis on her name

"I don&039;t know" He wasn&039;t sure, though, and we both picked up on it

"We saw you earlier tonight," I said "You were going to the funeral parlor, weren&039;t you?"

He all but grabbed at the change of subject "Yes, when I read about your--your trouble I thought you ht need help"

"Did anyone spot you?"

He looked slightly embarrassed "I&039;m afraid they did"

That explained why Escott had been picked up so fast

"I got away and thought it best to come back here to wait for you"

"So you could be neat about things and take care of Escott, too?"

As a shock tactic it didn&039;t work very well He was surprised, but not in the way I&039;d expected He gaped as though I was mentally deficient and looked to Escott for an answer

"Jack believes you tried to kill hiht," he explained quietly

Any breath in hiled to replace it to speak, only he couldn&039;t speak His face was eloquent Unless he was a better actor than Escott, he was an innocent man In-noc-ent of my attempted murder, at least

"No," he finally whispered "Why ever should I want to kill you?"

Escott didn&039;t answer directly "Banks was the intended victi tiht have seen or heard so that would have identified the killer"

"Why do you think it was me?" he asked, honestly puzzled "Is it because of Maureen? Because ere once lovers?"

I hated hiht of Maureen in his aro it had been I hated that when she&039;d been in trouble she&039;d gone to him for help and not to me I realized with shame that I could hate her for that as well

Escott shifted uneasily and I looked away from them until the emotions cooled off Given a chance, they lose their terrible intensity, but until then I&039;m not safe to be around

"The paper said it was a robbery" Barrett was speaking to Escott "You obviously don&039;t think so Why?"

"There&039;s too much coincidence involved for my peace of mind The day after we spoke with him, the man was ation into Maureen&039;s disappearance That person did not want anyone looking too closely into things and cut off a source of information This, of course, presupposes that Maureen is dead"

The only sound was Escott&039;s heartbeat and the soft tick of his watch

Barrett was utterly still Eventually he looked atI&039;d deny Escott&039;s words I&039;d lived with the possibility for so long on the edge of thought that I felt nothing Barrett had never once considered it and was having to deal with the idea as one solid blow

He shook his head slightly, barely"You think she&039;s dead?"

I looked past hi to see a mirror of my own old fears on his face

"Why do you think that? Where&039;s your proof?"

Escott stepped in and answered for e of Maureen and her feelings for hi her"

"If Maureen were still alive, she&039;d have returned to him despite Gaylen&039;s possible interference" He switched back to me "She loved you, Jack, she would have returned to you"

I nodded my thanks to him for that piece of comfort

"Then who killed her?" asked Barrett "If she has been killed"

"You could have"

Barrett wasn&039;t threatened by the accusation "Why should I?"

"To ested

"Maureen could have upset that for you, especially if she ever suspected you of setting the fire that killed Violet Francher"

I felt the wave of pure shock roll from Barrett and flood the room

"Easy, Charles"

Escott was staring at the deceptively si it as insulation between his s

Barrett said clearly and slowly, "The fire was an accident"

"And a very convenient one for you, was it not?"

He was up and across the rooht All I could do was stand and take a step toward the At the ers fro even that much inmore than stand over him Unmoved, Escott continued to study the quilt, and Barrett&039;s fists trembled for want of action

"It probably was an accident," Escott continued, "and if not, then it was soed it, not you You have other means by which you may deal with such aard problems We know that It would have been child&039;s play for you to have influenced Violet Francher into accepting you Why did you not do so?"

The ansas slow in co with his emotions "Emily asked me not to, and after s to run their natural course"

"Did you know about the psychiatrists being brought in?"

"Yes, and if it came to it, I was more than ready to influence them How did you coossip can beobscene and returned to stand behind the chair, resting his hands on its tall back I withdrew to the trunk If he&039;d wanted to kill, he&039;d have done it by now

"What was Emily&039;s reaction to her mother&039;s death?" asked Escott

"What do you think?"

"I&039; you"

"I don&039;t kno to answer"

"Was it norrief?"

"What&039;s normal? I don&039;t know"

"I think you do"

Barrett appealed to me "How do you put up with him?"

"I usually tell hied "For what it&039;s worth, Emily took it very hard She all but fell apart on us Why do you ask?"

"Because she could have killed her mother"

He smiled "No, that&039;s impossible"

"You are very certain"

"I aht"

"But not during the day"

"No, but--"

"She could have rigged it all during the day, delaying things"

"No" He shook his head decisively "No, she couldn&039;t have done anything like that You&039;re co there The fire started because of an old la hi about s She&039;s always had servants to do everything for her She only has the vaguest idea of how to change a light bulb Last year I tried to teach her how to drive and she was utterly hopeless at it Besides, she&039;s too gentle of heart She could never kill anyone, nor even think of it"

Escott tilted his head to one side, looking directly at him "Besides, it was an accident, as you said"

He scowled, knowing that Escott was patronizing him "Why do you insist it wasn&039;t?"

"Because it brings sense to what followed after: Maureen&039;s disappearance and why she disappeared"

Things tu to do with my injured head "Charles"

He looked at me

"No more," I said "Leave it as is"

"You won&039;t, by God," said Barrett "You&039;ll be telling me, and the sooner the better" His voice was low, but he ht it necessary

"I can only tell you what I&039;ve been able to deduce from the inadequate data I have at hand"

"No, Charles What&039;s the point? What&039;s the good of it? Maureen&039;s dead, this won&039;t bring her back"

"I know" He was surprised, but not offended at my attitude "Maureen, Banks, and nearly you--who&039;s next? That is the good of it That&039;s the purpose and point, the one that I have to justify it all for ain"

"Stop who?" Barrett demanded

Escott started to speak, but his words couldabout Emily, but Laura"

Her naone out of his already pale face, leaving hiain "No You&039;re both wrong again You&039;re too inept to find Maureen, so you invent nonsense to excuse your lack"

"Was Laura hoht?"

He stared me up and down, then sense and disbelief took over, and he s is impossible"

"It is not," said Escott "Very sadly, it is not"

Barrett&039;s finger found a searain patternsthe join, unaware of the nervous ht, I&039;ve nearly had my fill of this Come and finish your terrible tale"

"It is terrible," Escott agreed "And I a this upon you"

"Get on with it"

"I will speculate that in 1931 a fourteen-year-old girl returned to her adopted home for her school holiday and found herself in the middle of a very tense emotional situation between yourself, Emily, and Violet

Laura did , Mr Barrett?"

He nodded

"Did she like you?"

"Yes, but you kno schoolgirls are"

"Schoolgirls grow up to be woe does not invalidate the depth or sincerity of their feelings--you can certainly understand that from your own experience You may not have been interested in her then, but she was interested in you Is that correct?"

"She may have had an infatuation, puppy love--

"And Violet was trying to send you away" Escort held up his hand to stem any comment "We&039;ll pass over the subject of the fire Whether or not it was an accident, it happened and re on the estate Froe that she no longer had to return to school She was needed at ho cousin

"It was probably the best suht another woman came into the house--a former lover, and a woman you were still very attached to in ways that Laura could only understand by instinct You invited Maureen to stay as long as she liked"

"You&039;re saying Laura was jealous of Maureen, but not of Eirl wasn&039;t deaf or blind, she kneere sharing a bed"

"E than you To Laura&039;s young eyes she was no co, beautiful and well acquainted with you Laura ether, enough to see her as another threat"

"And for that you think she killed Maureen? Is that the whole miserable story?"

"The most important part, yes Was Laura then aware of your nature?"

"She knew only that I was allergic to sunlight Some people are so and are not vaht she have heard if she&039;d been listening to you and Maureen?"

Barrett shut up His face pinched in thought, he paced the room up and back, then sat in the chair "Go on"

"She apparently learned enough froh If there is anything like a decent library in that house she&039;d be able to pick up some basic data about your condition and your special weaknesses She would kno to take advantage of them"

"But she was a child"

"And very intelligent? Precocious, perhaps?" Escott&039;s voice dropped to a gentle, tonelessthe day she murdered Maureen"

"She did not! Maureen left the next night Mayfair saw--

"Mayfair and Banks only sao a hat and a veil; a hat to cover her blond hair and a veil to conceal her face A wo on the estate and a woman must be seen to leave There was no reason for Maureen to want to go to Bridgeport Can you think of one for Laura?"

"Her boarding school is in Connecticut," he whispered

"The route would then have been a faical one for her to choose because of its faet back?" I asked him

"She must have hired another cab in Port Jefferson We only failed to find it"

"And what happened to her trunk?"

"I don&039;t know We shall have to ask her"

Barrett had been staring at the floor and looked up after he noticed the silence "What?"

"I said we shall have to ask her"

It took a while to sink in and he was shaking his head slowly but decisively "No You&039;re not going anywhere near her You&039;re both going to leave us all alone"

"And if we leave you alone, ill you do?"

But he wasn&039;t ready to consider that "No, you just get out of here and leave us"

"She&039;s murdered two people, Barrett, possibly three"

"She has not You&039;ve no proof for any of this Only speculation, and what good is that?"

"Where was Laura last night?" I asked

"At home in her room," he said too quickly, then realized it

"What ti a swi a drive in a hurricane? Or justa club at the back of Banks&039;s head There was a lot of blooddid she get it all off? Did the storot home? Was her hair dry by the time you went up to her? Was she even in the mood for your company? Or maybe she was all excited and needed you to help work it off--

The shock had come back to his face, then it swiftly evolved into white-hot fury He was in front of me in one step, hauled me up, and knocked a fist square intosharply to one side and a wall slammed me hard all over; or the floor, or both I didn&039;t care Maureen was dead and I didn&039;t care about anything at all