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"I even reoing to the island, or rather to put a wreath of mystery about it, and I wrote this into the scheme

"Lastly, I wrote about whatof the mausoleum, and wrote out the soleain

"Finally I finished my written plan for the renovations

"I printed out the requisite copies Then I drew a clean design for a suranite bathroo nothis four times by means of my fax machine, I finished my official plans

"At this point Goblin spoke: 'Evil, Quinn,' he said 'Quinn Goblin will die in any direction ¡¯

"I turned and looked at him and saw in his face a cold hard expression much as I'd often seen in him for the last few days There was none of the old love or warmth or playfulness

" 'How do you mean Quinn Goblin will die?' I asked 'We won't let that happen, old buddy We won't I' that to you Can you understand my words? They come from my heart ¡¯

" 'They all want you,' he replied in his monotone 'Mona wants you Rebecca wants you Aunt Queen wants you Nash wants you The stranger wants you Any direction and Quinn Goblin dies ¡¯

" 'We'll never be separated,' I said confidentially 'Perhaps they si the bond is between us But we know ¡¯

"His expression remained cold, and then very slowly he dissolved

"I had the distinct impression that he had dissolved of his own accord, not because he had to, and that he wanted me to know this, that he had withdrawn, and indeed I did feel the sting of it

" 'It's true what I told you,' I said 'Only you can make us die, only you can divide us, and that would be by leaving me ¡¯

"Whether he was near or far, whether he had heard what I said, I had no clue And I was too madly excited to care about him

"I hurried downstairs to place a copy of reeably enough, and then I went out to find Allen's mailbox in the shed, and I put a copy in there for him Allen was the head of the craftsmen, as I've indicated He'd see that the as done I put a copy in Clem's box as a courtesy, as Clem was actually the boss, and then I headed back to the house

"As I crossed the back terrace a wave of giddiness came over me And when I look back on that ht and the warreet ed excitement, I remember how very alive I felt, how in love with Mona and how foolishly excited I was by the er, and how I heldevidence that I was not