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"That would explain the sudden appearance of a dead ringer," Tony said

Joshua’s frown grew deeper, "But where has this mysterious twin brother been all these years?"

"He was probably raised by another fa out her theory "In another town, another part of the state"

"Or maybe even another part of the country," Tony said

"Are you trying to tell -lost brother eventually found each other?"

"It could happen," Hilary said

Joshua shook his head "Perhaps it could, but in this case it didn’t Bruno was an only child"

"You’re positive?"

"There’s no doubt about it," Joshua said "The circumstances of his birth aren’t secret"

"But twins It’s such a lovely theory," Hilary said

Joshua nodded "I know It’s an easy answer, and I’d like to find an easy answer so we can wrap this thing up fast Believe me, I hate to punch holes in your theory"

"Maybe you can’t," Hilary said

"I can"

"Try," Tony said "Tell us where Bruno came from, who his real mother was Maybe we’ll punch holes in your story Maybe it’s not as open and shut as you think it is"

Eventually, after he had broken and torn and sot control of hie cooled into a less destructive, er For a while, after his te point, he stood in thehard, sweat dripping off his brow and glea on his naed body Then he went into the bedroom and put on his clothes

When he was dressed, he stood at the foot of the bloody bed and stared at the brutally butchered body of the woman he had known only as Sally Now, too late, he realized that she hadn’t been Katherine She hadn’t been another reincarnation of his mother The old bitch han’t switched bodies from Hilary Thomas to Sally; she couldn’t do that until Hilary was dead Bruno couldn’t iht otherwise; he was surprised that he could have been so confused

However, he felt no remorse for what he had done to Sally Even if she hadn’t been Katherine, she had been one of Katherine’s handmaidens, a woman sent from Hell to serve Katherine Sally had been one of the enemy, a conspirator in the plot to kill him He was sure of that Maybe she had even been one of the living dead Yes Of course He was positive of that, too Yes Sally had been exactly like Katherine, a dead woman in a new body, one of those ed She was one of the where Hilary-Katherine was hiding But she kept that secret, and she deserved to die for her unshakable allegiance to his mother

Besides, he hadn’t actually killed her, for she would co out the person whose rightful flesh it was

Now he et about Sally and find Hilary-Katherine She was still out there so for him

He must locate her and kill her before she found a way to kill hiiven him one sent

Topelis would probably knohere she was hiding

They cleared away the dinner dishes, and Joshua pouredthe story of Bruno’s rise frootten his facts over the years, a few at a time, from Katherine and fro before he had come to the valley to practice law

In 1940, the year Bruno was born, Katherine enty-six years old and still living with her father, Leo, in the isolated clifftop house, behind and above the winery, where they had resided together since 1918, the year after Katherine’s mother died Katherine had been away froe in San Francisco; she had dropped out of school because she hadn’t wanted to be away froe that she would never use She loved the valley and the big old Victorian house on the cliff Katherine was a handsome, shapely woman who could have had as many suitors as she wished, but she seeh she was still young, her introverted personality and her cool attitude toward all men convinced most of the people who knew her that she would be an old maid and, furthermore, that she would be perfectly happy in that role Then, in January of 1940, Katherine received a call froe a few years earlier Mary needed help; a otten her into trouble He had pro with excuse after excuse, and then had skipped out when she was six nant Mary was nearly broke, and she had no family to turn to for help, no friend half so close as Katherine She asked Katherine to come to San Francisco a few months hence, as soon as the baby arrived; Mary didn’t want to be alone at that trying time She also asked Katherine to care for the baby until she, Mary, could find a job and build up a nest egg and provide a proper ho people in St Helena that she would be a teate mother She seehbors said she would be a wonderful mother to her own children if she could just find a man to marry her and father them

Six weeks after Mary Gunther’s telephone call, and six weeks before Katherine was scheduled to go to San Francisco to be with her friend, Leo suffered a h stacks of oak barrels in one of the winery’s huge aging cellars Although Katherine was stunned and grief-stricken, and although she had to start learning to run the family business, she did not back out of her proe that the baby had arrived, Katherine went off to San Francisco She was gone more than teeks, and when she returned, she had a tiny baby, Bruno Gunther, Mary’s alarile child

Katherine expected to have Bruno for a year, at which time Mary would be firmly on her feet and ready to assume complete responsibility for the tyke But after six months, word came that Mary had more trouble, much worse this ti She had only a feeeks to live, a month at most Katherine took the baby to San Francisco, so that the mother could spend what little ti Mary’s last days, she eranted permanent custody of the baby Mary’s own parents were dead; she had no other close relatives hom Bruno could live If Katherine had not taken hie or in the care of foster parents who ood to him Mary died, and Katherine paid for the funeral, then returned to St Helena with Bruno

She raised the boy as if he were her own, acting not just like a guardian but like a concerned and loving mother She could have afforded nursemaids and other household help, but she didn’t hire them; she refused to let anyone else tend to the child Leo had not employed domestic help, and Katherine had her father’s spirit of independence She got along well on her own, and when Bruno was four years old, she returned to San Francisco, to the judge who had awarded her custody at Mary’s request, and she for to get a clue from Joshua’s story, alert for any inconsistencies or absurdities, Hilary and Tony had been leaning forward, ar room table, while they listened Now they leaned back in their chairs and picked up their wine glasses

Joshua said, "There are still people in St Helena who remember Katherine Frye priave him love and more than a little wealth, too"

"So there wasn’t a twin," Tony said

"Definitely not," Joshua said

Hilary sighed "Which means we’re back at square one"

"There are a couple of things in that story that bother me," Tony said

Joshua raised his eyebrows "Like what?"

"Well, even these days, with our more liberal attitudes, we still le woman to adopt a child," Tony said "And in 1940, it must have been very nearly impossible"

"I think I can explain that," Joshua said "If memory serves me well, Katherine once told me that she and Mary had anticipated the court’s reluctance to sanction the arrangee what they felt was just a little white lie They said that Katherine was Mary’s cousin and her closest living relative In those days, if a close relative wanted to take the child in, the court ale just accepted their clai into it?" Tony asked

"You have to rees had a lot less interest in involving themselves in family matters than they seeovernment’s role as a relatively minor one Generally, it was a saner time than ours"

To Tony, Hilary said, "You said there were a couple of things that bothered you What’s the other one?"