He stopped. In a moment he went on, “One thing you said yesterday. About my father and me being here when your sister was killed. I said it was stupid, but it wasn’t. What do you know about us? How do you know we’re not homicidal maniacs? It was me that was stupid, not you. Of course, I know I’m just a plain ordinary dub, but you don’t.”
“You don’t think you’re a dub at all,” Heather declared, meeting his eyes. “You think you’re pretty hot stuff.”
“I do not!”
Heather made a gesture.
“All right,” Ross said savagely. “You’ve had me wrong from the start, and now nothing will ever change you. I realize that. But today I realized that it was actually possible that you suspected me of killing your sister! Why shouldn’t you? How do you know I didn’t?”
“I never said—”
“I know you never said it, but you hinted at it. And now Cooper too. At the time he was killed I was down at the old orchard. I didn’t even hear the shot. I know nothing, absolutely nothing, of who killed him or your sister, or why, or anything. Do you believe that?”
“No.”
“But you must! You must believe it!”
“It isn’t a question of must. What I believe and don’t believe—”
“But you have simply got to!” Ross came a step closer. “I can stand your not liking me, and your not caring a damn about how I feel about you, about how I love you, I can stand that because I can’t help myself, but you’re not going away from here thinking that I had anything to do, anything at all, with the terrible things that happened here! You are not! You have no right to think a thing like that about me!”
“On the contrary,” Heather asserted, “I have.”
“You have?”
“I not only have a right, I have a reason.”
“Reason?” He stared at her. “You have a reason—”
“Certainly I have,” Heather said firmly. “You never knew my sister, did you?”
“I did not.”
“You never met her or knew anything about her?”
“How could I? She was in France. You told me about her. I only met you—”
“Then where did you get that sonograph plate with her voice on it? And why—”
“Where did I get what?”
“That plate with Martha’s voice on it. And why were you so anxious and determined to get it back?”
Ross was gaping at her incredulously. “Are you saying — are you trying to tell me—”
A knock, a series of sharp taps, sounded in their ears — not at the door, but on the wall against which the dresser stood. It was followed at once by a voice sharp with anger:
“Damn you, what do you mean by that?”
Then another voice, quick footsteps, a door opening, and, as Heather got to her feet, the door of her room swung open and Brager was there; and entering immediately behind him was a man in the uniform of the state police. The policeman was saying in an unfriendly tone:
“Okay, it’s your wall and you tapped on it. If you people aren’t careful there’s going to be some tapping around here on something besides a wall.”
“What’s the idea?” Ross demanded.
Brager’s eyes popped at him, popping with indignation. “He expects me to keep still!” he sputtered. “He comes to my room! He hears voices at my open window, coming from your open window, and he stands there to listen, and he expects me to keep still! I know policemen do those things, all right, they do, but that is no reason to think I am a swine! To expect me to keep quiet while he listens to you and you are not aware of it! I knocked on the wall!”
He glared defiantly at the policeman.
“Thank you, Mr. Brager,” Ross said. “He’s quite welcome to anything he heard.” He scowled at the policeman. “We’ll shut the window and try to keep our voices low enough not to disturb you—”
“I’ll save you the trouble,” the policeman said dryly. “If the lady will please come downstairs. If you’ll just come with me, Miss Gladd?”
“She’s been there,” Ross asserted truculently. “They’ve already talked with her.”
“I know, but things come up. Will you come, please, Miss Gladd? Under the circumstances?”
Heather went to the door and passed through, with the policeman at her heels. She was filled with mortification, and was furious both with herself and with Ross Dundee. They had acted like children, talking like that, in that house at that time, by an open window without even taking the precaution to lower their voices. Not that she had anything to conceal from anyone, now that George was dead... but yes, she had... she had given Hicks a promise and said she would keep it...
They were approaching the door to the living room when it opened and Hicks emerged. His eyes darted at her, at her escort, and back to her.
“Hello,” he said. “Straighten your shoulders.”
She took the hand he offered and the clasp of his fingers was good for her. “I didn’t know you were here. I was — George—”
“I know. They’ve been telling me about it. I’d like to hear it from you. We’ll go outdoors.”
“I’m being taken in there. To the district attorney.”
“Yes? I’ll go along.”
But that didn’t work. Hicks did enter with them, but he was immediately put out, Corbett being in no mood to waste any words on the matter. After the door had been closed again, and Heather had been seated, the policeman stood at a corner of the table and reported succinctly what had just happened and the substance of what he had overheard. Manny Beck had apparently left by another door, for he was no longer there. Corbett listened with his baby mouth puckered as though preparing to whistle.
He shook his head at Heather in disapproval. “You see,” he said regretfully. “You should have learned that we discover the things you try to conceal from us. That Cooper was in love with you. We learned that, didn’t we? And other things. And now young Dundee is in love with you.” Corbett wet his lips. “Has he asked you to marry him?”
“Don’t be disgusting,” Heather said, and compressed her mouth.
“There is nothing disgusting about marriage, my dear. Nor even about love.” Corbett wet his lips again. “Not necessarily. This is interesting. Very. You told me only an hour ago that you had no idea of why your sister and her husband were killed, nor any reason to suspect anyone. Now it seems that you do in fact suspect Ross Dundee. Why?”
“I didn’t say I suspected him.”
“What she said,” the policeman put in, “was that she didn’t believe him when he said he didn’t know anything about it.”
“I’ll handle this,” Corbett said sharply. “Why didn’t you believe him, Miss Gladd?”
“Because I don’t know what to believe. He was there, that’s all.”
“Do you think he’s a liar?”
“No.”
“Do you — uh — return his love?”
“No.”
“What specific reason did you have for telling him to his face that you didn’t believe him?”
“I had no specific reason. Just what I said.”
“My dear young lady.” Corbett was reproachful. “This will never do. You heard the officer say that you told Ross Dundee that you had a reason, and he asked what it was, and you said it was a sonograph plate of your sister’s voice. That is something else you have been concealing from us, and obviously something important. Have you got the sonograph plate?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s on it? What does your sister’s voice say?”
“I don’t know.” Heather swallowed. “I know nothing whatever about it. It is a private matter. I don’t intend to talk about it or answer any questions about it.”