“What do you mean?”
“They leak.”
“Good God,” said Frances. “John told me how it was in Stewart. A house was no protection. And these might be spewing the deadly things right now!”
“Yes, if they defrost. And with this wind, the poison could be blown all over the Valley.”
“How could he know this? Those tanks may have been bouncing around the country ever since they were stolen. What makes him think they’re dangerous all of a sudden?”
“The Army,” replied Cilla. “They stored other stuff in the same type of tank at the same time these were loaded, and a number have started to leak.”
“Let’s hope these stay good and cold wherever they are.”
The group was silent, each with own thoughts. The flames from a giant candelabra and a dozen candlesticks cast flickering shadows on the walls, hushing voices. A gang of killers was loose in the countryside, and deadly bacteria might this minute be seeping under doors. Evans felt an urge to pull closer to the others and to the fireplace, where there was not only light but warmth. An outside thud raised eyes toward the roof. Branch, blown by the fierce wind. Snow blanketed the west-facing living room windows hiding the wolf that huffed and puffed.
Andre was restless. “Let’s see what your supplies look like,” he said, taking a flashlight to the refrigerator. “Looks a little low,” he commented after a moment. “Cilla,” he called, “was that convenience store at the foot of the hill open when you came up?”
“We’ve enough food for breakfast, Andre. By then the plow will be through.”
“I might just take a run there anyway”
“In this blizzard? Your car would never make it down, let alone back up.”
“You’re right. It sure wouldn’t.” The refrigerator closed.
“There’s bread and cheese if anyone wants something tonight,” said Frances to those in the living room.
“Maybe we could cook something over the fire,” said Loni in a small voice.
“I’ve done it before,” said Wally. “I’m sure I’ve got some marshmallows in one of the cabinets.”
“Great idea,” said Jim Evans, getting into a lighter mood.
“Now,” whispered Cilla. Frances and she rose quietly from their chairs, and stealthily approached the kitchen. Evans blinked, what...?
Suddenly the two ran through the kitchen to the garage. The door slammed. All was quiet for a moment, then the door could be heard opening again, and a red-faced Andre was pushed through into the living room by Cilla and Frances. As Bob Gold’s houseguest sprawled on the floor, Evans could see he was wearing handcuffs.
“What on earth...?”
“The real Nutcracker,” announced Cilla.
Chapter 45
The doctor looked at them as if they were missing more than a few logs from a cord. “Mr. Adams? You can’t be serious!”
“Never more so,” responded Wally Carver. “It was Adams’ plan right from the beginning.”
“That’s absurd,” said Andre, struggling into a more dignified position. “I’ve been right here all the time. Bob, I’ve been at your house for the last week or two. I wasn’t up on Mt. Washington, Cilla. This is ridiculous!” Stony silence. “Hey, there isn’t a person in New England that would believe Andre Adams is the Nutcracker.”
“How will they feel about that environmentalist hot wiring his hostesses’ car when she’s told him not to use it in order to go out in the year’s worst blizzard to get food we don’t need?” Cilla bit off the last words. If it hadn’t been for this evil bastard, Hudson would be here beside her.
“Cabral’s threats would have been empty without the pod tanks supplied by that maniac Frank,” said Carver. “Your brother!” Andre froze. “Oh, that wasn’t difficult to figure. Cilla heard Cabral say he needed a `recognition code’ to meet Frank at the airport. He didn’t know Scoggins. But Frank was related to someone, someone at the top. You didn’t run Cabral’s organization, but it was your plan.”
Wally walked to the front entryway and returned with a dark blue overcoat with a velvet collar. He held it up for Andre. “Recognize this coat? You should. You have one exactly like it, both bought by Loni, who hoped to bring you and her father closer together. Samuel Lockhart, a coatroom attendant at the Onyx Club, couldn’t tell the difference; gave this one to you and yours to Preston Sturgis. A fatal mistake for them both.” Wally threw the coat on a chair and began to pace with his arms clasped behind him as though giving a jury summation. “When Preston got home he found a note in the pocket from Cabral to you regarding the blackmail plot. Sturgis dealt drugs for Cabral and his Russians, and, knowing how Cabral operated, knew he was in big trouble. He’d gotten hold of a secret he shouldn’t have, and his only chance was flight. What he hadn’t known until he read the note was your connection with Cabral.”
Cilla took over. “The only people who knew I have a scar on my thigh are Hudson, Dr. Evans and people who have seen me in a bathing suit. Like you, when I took you over to the Club pool. There’s no other way Cabral could have known about it except from you. Suddenly a lot of things made sense: your `accident’ that wasn’t an accident at all. You arranged that scene ice climbing. I’ve heard of people who can throw their shoulders out anytime they want. Like that old magician Houdini. You wanted to get into our house, to get close to Mr. Carver, and found you could play me for a softy. Your nighttime skiing through the woods to the Carver house, must have been searching for Sturgis - you knew he was there someplace, you’d seen that coat in the front hall. So, when our home was invaded by those two thugs, you said they must have got the wrong house. What is ‘wrong’ about an invaded house unless there is a ‘right’ one. They were sent to find Sturgis and supposed to be in Wally’s house. Later, you managed to be safe at Bob’s house when the bazooka blew up mine. ”
With a second’s silence, Evans slipped in a question. “But why did Andre feel he had to get away? Hot-wiring your car? Nobody had any suspicions until then.”
“He wasn’t just trying to get away. He was afraid of dying. He thought he had to get to the other three tanks to stop them from defrosting.”
“In this weather? It must be below twenty outside!”
“Which wouldn’t make much difference if the tanks are stored inside a heated house.”
“It sounds to me as though you know where they are.”
“Carlos delivered the tanks to someone today. Obviously someone who had access to cold storage for three man-sized tanks. You know New England weather in March, it could be fifty degrees tomorrow. Except on the mountaintops. They couldn’t take a chance storing them outside.”
“Bob’s walk-in freezer! And with the power off...!”
“Right. Andre’s been living there alone since Bob moved in here. What more convenient place in case they needed them right away?”
Evans was still working on it. “You said he thought he needed to get to them. Then they aren’t leaking?”
“Not as far as we know.”
Bob Gold chuckled. “I’ve got a stand-by generator for the walk-in anyway. Automatically comes on when the power goes off. The temperature never changes in it.” He shook his head. “I was the one who didn’t think the ruse would work. I was sure Andre would have noticed that generator.”
“A ruse. All this about the leaks is untrue?”
“Right. Cilla briefed us while you and Andre were getting firewood.”
Evans sighed. Suddenly his face brightened. “Then with the tanks on the mountain tops soon to be under guard, and the other three safely keeping cold at Bob Gold’s, the Nutcracker has lost! The danger is over!”