All Nedda saw was the flash of one white hand before she felt a light tug on her jacket. The movement was so quick, there was hardly time to be startled before she realized that the detective had just robbed her pocket of the ice pick.
„Brill was so worried about you,“ said Mallory. „And he even knows how good you are at taking down violent criminals.“ She glanced back over one shoulder, perhaps wanting the assurance they were alone – without witnesses. „Incidentally, that man had a gun, but it was still holstered behind his back.“ The detective held up a small camera. „This is what he had in his hand. So it’s lucky I interrupted you before you killed another unarmed citizen.“
Lucky indeed. Nedda jammed both hands into her pockets, not wanting this young woman to see her tremble so.
The detective was looking down at the ice pick resting on the flat of one palm, then the camera in her other hand. She seemed to be weighing one thing against another. „I don’t know who to charge tonight. It’s a real crap-shoot.“
„If you don’t mind a suggestion?“
„Go for it.“
Nedda looked to the shadows where the police and their prisoner had disappeared. „It might be better if you charge him – since you cracked his skull.“
„Good point.“ Mallory held up the camera. „You run pretty fast, Miss Winter. Yes, we were watching you from the woods. Nice sprint.“ She held up the camera. „Three more shots left on the roll.“ She pointed through the trees toward a path that was well lit. „I want you to run that way – fast as you can.“
When Nedda hesitated, Mallory said, „Do it. Now!“
And Nedda ran. She stumbled the first time she heard the click behind her. She had been shot with the camera. She looked back over one shoulder to the startling sight of Mallory running behind her and shooting her again.
„That’s good! Now stop!“
Nedda halted on command – like a pet – and turned around to see the detective removing a roll of film from the camera.
„If anyone should ask,“ said Mallory, „my prisoner took those last three pictures.“
„You’re asking me to falsify -
„You’ve got a problem with that? Would you rather visit the local station house and explain what you were doing in the woods with a concealed weapon?“ Mallory rested one hand on her hip. It was a gesture of total disbelief. „I see you at the window every night. Always looking out at the park. You’re holding out on me. That man – you were waiting for him to show up. Am I right?“ Mallory held up the ice pick. „You want to talk about this now? No? Then meet me downtown in six hours.“
„What do you want me to do? Make a statement or – “
„You didn’t get my message? You agreed to take a polygraph exam, Miss Winter. I set it up for this morning. Were you planning to back out?“
„No, I’ll be there.“
The detectives rode in the back of the patrol car with their unconscious prisoner propped up between them. Mallory was going through the man’s wallet.
„This is trouble,“ she said, holding up a private investigator’s license issued in the state of Maine.
„So now we know he’s got a permit for the gun,“ said Riker. „Damn. Too bad you didn’t shoot him, kid. Fat chance we can keep Nedda out of the papers now.“ He rolled back one of the prisoner’s eyelids and waved his hand back and forth between the man’s eyes and the car’s dome light. „The pupils don’t react. I think you might’ve caught a lucky break. He’s not gonna wake up anytime soon. Maybe never.“
„Okay, you win!“ Annoyed, Mallory leaned toward the driver. „Cancel the SoHo station. Aim this car at the nearest hospital.“
The prisoner transport swerved off Seventh Avenue and rolled into the emergency entrance for Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village.
Riker, sarcastic alarmist, gave her no credit for knowing how to pull her shots. She had not hit the man all that hard, and he would certainly live. Also, and this was a bonus, a prolonged awakening worked in her favor. She could have the photographs developed before the man regained consciousness.
Nedda parted company with Officer Brill on the stairs outside her front door. She entered the house by herself despite his kind offer to come inside with her. After crossing the room in the dark, aided by memory alone, her hand closed on the banister, and she made the long climb to the second-floor landing with time enough for deep regret to settle in.
Why had she ever gone into the park?
The man with the camera was most likely a reporter, and now irreparable damage had been done. Cleo and Lionel would have to bear the consequence of her little walk in the woods tonight. Very soon, perhaps in the early morning hours, they would be accosted by microphones shoved in their faces, cameras and questions to fend off.
Gone was every hope for reconciliation.
She entered her room and switched on the bedside lamp, then examined the disarray of her clothing. Her leather jacket was scored with the scratches of tree branches, her slacks were ripped open in places, and dirt caked both her shoes. She turned to the only mirror in the room.
What a fright.
Strands of hair had escaped the braid in wild profusion. A branch had sliced into her neck and broken the skin. She touched the wound and her hand came away with drops of blood on it. She removed her jacket, then jumped when the ice pick fell to the floor. Mallory must have covertly slipped it back into her pocket, but why would an officer of the law do such a thing?
Behind her, there was a sudden intake of breath. Realizing that she was no longer alone in this room, she whirled around to see her small niece standing in the open doorway, all eyes and staring at the weapon on the floor – the blood on Nedda’s fingers.
„Oh, God,“ said Bitty, „what have you done?“
The elder woman started at these words – echos – of Uncle James, her first accuser. Bitty was back stepping into the hall, and Nedda bowed her head, so sorry, so utterly destroyed.
Chapter 6
riker’s back was broken after five hours of bad dreams on a lumpy couch in the hospital lounge.
A voice close to his ear said, „I know you’re awake.“
Mallory sounded so damned alert, but she was young; she could string three days together with catnaps and never miss the sleep. Well, he might be awake, but she could not force him to open his eyes.
„I talked to the state cops in Maine,“ she said. „They went out to Susan McReedy’s place.“
Riker rolled over and away from her, burrowing into the upholstery.
Mallory’s voice was louder, more testy. „McReedy’s gone. The neighbors said she left town doing eighty miles an hour. She’s on the run. I ran her credit cards. No charges. She’s paying cash for her gas.“
Riker mumbled, „Some people still use cash, Mallory.“ Morning light was breaking through the slits of his sore eyes. „Maybe the lady just needed a vacation.“ Life in the boondocks of Maine might be more exciting and stressful than he had previously supposed. He rolled on his back, eyes all the way open now, and decided that – naw – Susan McReedy was on the run. „Damn. So that private dick upstairs is all we got left.“
He was talking to the ceiling. His partner was crossing the lobby, forcing him to rise and lope after her.
Nedda faltered on the stairs as she made her way up to the south attic, where the trunks of the dead were kept – all but Baby Sally’s. The light from the gabled windows was waning. The morning was turning dark and promising rain. She wandered the rows of stored effects until she found her mother’s trunk and opened it. The lid was heavier today.
So tired.
Nedda dropped the opera glasses inside and closed the trunk softly, reverently. She moved on to the neat row of murdered parents and children. One by one, she dragged their trunks to an open space. The sky was rumbling over her head as she arranged them in a circle, and lightning flashed in every window when she sat down, tailor fashion, surrounded by all that remained of her dead.