I grinned. I even laughed a little, quietly. It's funny how you still laugh.
"You'd better go on, anyway, Carol," I said. "I've got a chill, a pretty bad cold. You're liable to catch it."
"I won't face you," she said.
I was lying with my knees drawn up, my hands under the pillow; taking up most of the bed.
She got in with her back to me; pushed back gently until my knees came down. She pulled one of my arms under her and the other over her, and folded them over her breasts; and she held them there with her own arms.
"Now, you'll be warm," she said. And pretty soon: "You were just afraid, that's what made you cold. You don't need to be afraid, Joe."
I didn't say anything, thinking, and she spoke again.
"Do you love me?"
"Sure I love you."
"You've got to, Joe. You just got to. Maybe you don't want to now, but it's too late to change. You got to love me."
"Hell," I said, "what are you talking about? I love you or I wouldn't have done it, would I?"
She didn't answer right away, but I could feel her getting ready. I knew, almost to a word, what she was going to say. Because we weren't the same people any more. If you won't stop at murder you won't stop at lying or cheating or anything else.
"I don't know, Joe. Maybe-maybe you were afraid of me, of what I might do. You and Elizabeth. Maybe your business wasn't so good, and you thought- well-"
"Carol! For God's sake-"
"I'm not saying it was that way. I'm-don't be mad at me, Joe! I've had to-most everything I've had to do and I've got to talk! I want to talk so you can tell me I'm wrong!"
"Well, you're wrong," I said.
And I thought, Jesus, what a break, what if I'd told her about Hap and Panzer and the show being washed up? And I thought, I'll have to get things straightened out. She's just dumb enough to-
"You mustn't try to see Elizabeth, Joe. You won't, will you?"
"Of course I won't. Why should I?"
"You mustn't. You're mine now. You're all I've got."
"All right," I said.
"You won't try to see her or write to her or anything? Promise me, Joe. Please, Joe."
"For Pete's sake! All right, I promise!"
"You'll let me send the insurance money to her to the General Delivery address like we agreed?"
"Yes. When I get it."
We went on talking, whispering in the darkness, with the lightning staggering dully through the windows and the rain scratching against the shingles and splashing into the gutter. Everything had gone all right, she said. The woman didn't have any friends or relatives. They'd had separate seats on the bus. She was practically the same size and coloring as Elizabeth.
Carol had told her that they were going on from Wheat City by car-that they'd have to wait until a friend from out in the country brought it in to them. And the woman may have thought it was funny, but she didn't say anything.
They met Elizabeth on a side street, and Elizabeth got out and kept right on going. And Carol and the woman drove home, and Carol took her up to the garage to show her her quarters-
"Don't tell me any more," I said. "I don't want to hear about it."
"All right," said Carol.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I meant, I don't want you to talk about it. I know how hard it was on you."
There wasn't much said after that.
After a while Carol got up and locked the door and set the alarm clock.
15
Appleton, the man from the insurance company, was already outside the next morning when I went downstairs. I walked over by the place where the garage had been and introduced myself.
He was a big fellow, not much over thirty, and he had a rather joking manner of speaking. When I came up he was bending over a sort of suitcase he had on the running-board of his coupй. One that opened at the top with a lot of vials and bottles and envelopes, and little racks and clips to hold them.
"I'm afraid there's not much to work on," I said, looking around.
"Oh, I've got everything I need already," he said. "I cleaned up the last of it yesterday evening. Just making a final check this morning."
"Did you-find anything to help you?" I asked.
"Don't know yet." He grinned. "I've got it all, though, up at the hotel. I've signed enough receipts for your county attorney to fill a bushel basket."
"I'm glad you've had cooperation," I said. "If there's anything I can do let me know."
"Swell," he said, "just pass the word along to the C.A. and the sheriff and their cohorts that the quicker I'm satisfied the quicker you'll get your dough."
"I'm not in any particular hurry to get the money," I said.
"Oh, hell," he said, "we're all in a hurry to get the money. What's your opinion on the origin of the fire?"
"I don't know," I said. "According to the paper, rats-"
He threw back his head and laughed. "I'll bet that tied you in knots, didn't it? Would rats be in a metal-lined room? Wouldn't your wife have known if there were rats? And would she have put herself within a hundred yards of them?"
"I've not had any experiences with fires," I said. "What's your idea?"
"I've got a couple. One is that it was incendiary." He grinned, watching my face. "The other, that it was an accident."
"Well-"
"Pretty good, huh? All I've got to do is get rid of one of 'em, and I can hand you a check or have you slapped in the jug."
And before I could say anything, he laughed and clapped me on the back to show that he was joking.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wilmot," he said. "I know how you must feel at a time like this, and I don't mean to be flippant. I see so much tragedy that I'm a little hardened to it. Don't pay any attention to me."
"That's all right," I said.
"I'll be frank with you, Joe-Mr. Wilmot-"
"Joe's okay."
"I'm kind of puzzled, Joe. Now, you didn't have any knob-and-tube wiring in here? It was all in conduit, right?"
"Sure. Just like it is in my show."
"What about the cord on the rewind motor?"
"It was all right. So far as I know."
He shook his head reproachfully. "You mean to say you're not sure?"
"Well, of course I'm sure," I said. "Mrs. Wilmot would have been sure, anyway. She'd been doing this for almost ten years. If there was anything wrong with the cord she'd have known it."
"It looks like she would have, Joe," he nodded. "She didn't smoke, I understand?"
"No, she didn't."
"Well, there you are," said Appleton. "Apparently there wasn't any cause for the fire. And yet there was a fire. You see why I'm puzzled, Joe?"
"Yeah," I said. "I see."
"How long did you say Mrs. Wilmot had been doing this sort of work?"
"Ten years or so. Almost ever since we were married."
"Why did she do it? Don't get me wrong. We're not denying liability."
"I suppose she did it because she wanted to."
"Just like that, huh?" He laughed.
"Yes."
"You screen your stuff before you play it, don't you? Running it through the rewind here didn't save any time or money."
"I wouldn't say that. Every once in a while she'd run across a reel that was wound backward or needed splicing, and-"
"But not very often. Not often enough to justify so much time and expense. It strikes me that this setup would have been more of a nuisance than anything else."
Well, it was. I couldn't deny it.
"Tell me. Did she do any other work connected with the show?"
"Yes. She did quite a bit. Worked on the books now and then. Made out the deposit slips. Things like that."
"Why?"
"Why?" I said. But I knew what he meant.
"Sure. From what I've learned of you, Joe, you didn't need that kind of help. You're a first-rate businessman. I happen to know that Mrs. Wilmot was anything but an expert businesswoman."