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Every so often, news about the suspect in the River Rat case came on Everyone went still and stared at the screen

And then they turned to Abby

She shrugged "I haven’t been able to reach ues yet," she told the

To escape them all, she returned to the apartment to make her next phone call Still no anshen she tried Malachi

So she called Jackson next "Don’t worry I talked to hiain See, a round Railroad The tunnels go all over, according to the soldier I’ fro Of course She hesitated "Soonslayer? A cop in plainclothes?"

"You have the cop of all cops on the way over to spell hi For dinner, naturally"

"Naturally," Abby said "Thank you, Jackson If you hear froht away, Abby We keep close tabs on one another It’s what keeps us all alive"

"I know," she said softly

She left the apartment and came downstairs, to discover that David Caswell had arrived--and Bootsie and Dirk Johansen were back The Black Swan had finished her afternoon sail

David was by the bar, being grilled Dirk looked as if he were in despair He turned to Abby, his eyes filled with sorrow "They think it’s Aldous!" he said

"I’m so sorry, Dirk," she murmured

Dirk shook his head "I know Aldous He’s one of the best men out there I refuse to believe the worst of him He never had to join the military because his family was always rich He did his stint, anyway He could’ve sat back on his ass his whole life, but he gave money to charitable projects and worked on them, too I won’t believe he’s a killer"

"We would have known," Bootsie insisted "You’re wrong, young man," he told David Caswell

"I’ainst him," David said "But this is Auilty" He looked at Abby and inclined his head She thought he’d been called by Jackson Crow, therefore knehere Malachi had gone--and what she was about to do

"Well, we’ll see" Abby shrugged "I guess I’ll take a stroll through and talk to a few of the guests"

She did Most of the diners were tourists, and they were intrigued by the case going on in Savannah

They were relieved the police had a suspect

She e of Blue He stared at her with unseeing eyes

But he was there soht e of Blue and then stepped inside the little fence that surrounded the grate

She slipped down into the tunnel without a backward glance

Malachi came to the fork in the tunnel; he knew that one path led to the Dragonslayer and then to the river

He hadn’t thought much about the other, because it didn’t lead to the river

Or, he realized, it didn’t appear to lead to the river Heover the walls

He ca down to look

Bones

Bones caught in fragments of cloth, with the remnants of feet in ancient boots

This was no new , the re They’d al went But the fact that they were here was interesting; this was clearly a pathway someone had used at some time There was little he could tell fro bone, but he had a feeling this dead man had been here at least two hundred years Had he been abandoned where he lay as a warning to others?

He tried to iine the days of the Civil War lieutenant and the slaves ould have been led through the tunnels to escape Perhaps, at that time, these bones had been left so that if the tunnel was discovered, it wouldn’t be considered an escape route, and those who tried to use it would face the law--or worse

He straightened and kept walking

His light revealed soown, an elegant nightgown He hurried toward it

Then, a grunt of astonishh his lips He took a step--but there was no ground He crashed down into a deep hole His body slammed hard on the earth and rock below