'He told me she drowned, but maybe. But why bring that up now?'
'Could that be what he feels guilty about?'
'Sure, but it still doesn't make sense, making such a big deal about that now.'
I tried to reel the book's plot through my mind.
Then the truth came at me nastily and unexpectedly, like a drunk driver.
'No, not his wife,' I said. Dropping the key in a wet pocket, I shut the book.
Stomach turning.
'What is it, Alex?'
'Another Emma,' I said, 'is going to help us. A girl with eight legs.'
33
'Something hidden near her cage?' said Robin. 'Or in it?'
'He may have hidden it in the bug zoo to keep it from Jo. She claimed to be queasy about bugs, and this afternoon I told him my suspicions of her.'
'She's there right now.'
'Holding the ladder for Pam. Be interesting to see if she actually goes in.'
'What could he be hiding?'
'Something to do with either the murders or Stasher-Layman's plan. Ben's arrest made him realize things are bad and he has to play whatever cards he's got.'
The door opened suddenly and Jo and Pam sloshed in. I closed the book of quotations and tried to look casual. Dropped the shiny key into my pocket as the two women wiped the water from their eyes.
Pam shook her head despondently.
Jo fixed her gaze on me and shut the door. 'What are you folks doing out?'
'We wanted to help,' said Robin. 'Started looking around the grounds, but it got to be too much so we ducked in. Any luck at the insectarium?'
Pam shook her head miserably.
Jo scanned the room. 'The windows are bolted shut and layered with wire mesh. I managed to break the glass with the flashlight, but the wire wouldn't bend, so all I could do was shine it around and look in as best I could. Far as I could see, he's not there.'
'He didn't answer my shouts,' said Pam. 'We got a pretty good look.'
'Can't break the door, either,' said Jo. 'Three locks, plate steel, and the hinges are inside.'
She removed her hat. Rain had gotten underneath and her hair was limp.
'I'm going back out,' said Pam.
'Reconsider,' Jo told her. 'Even if he is out there, with this kind of limited visibility, I don't see how you'd spot him.'
'I don't care.'
As she rushed for the door, Jo stared at me. 'What about you?'
'We'll stay here for a while, then return to the house. Let us know if you find him.'
Pam left. Jo put her hat back on.
'Are you armed?' I said.
'Excuse me?'
'Are you carrying your gun?'
She smiled. 'No. Weather like this, it could flood. Why? Think I need protection?'
'Anyone could be out there. The hostility down in the village… the rain'll probably keep people away, but who knows? We're all pretty vulnerable traipsing around.'
'So?' said Jo.
'So we need to be careful.'
'Fine, I'll be careful.' She threw the door open and was gone.
I opened the door a crack and watched as she melted into the downpour.
'Why'd you do that?' said Robin when I closed it.
'To let her know I was onto her. Maybe it'll prevent her from trying something, maybe not.'
We stood there, then I cracked the door again and looked outside. Nothing, no one. For what that was worth.
'Now what?' said Robin.
'Now we either go back to our room and wait till daylight or you go back and wait and I use the key and see what Gustave's girl can do for us.'
She shook her head. 'Third option: we both go visit Emma.'
'Not again.'
'I'm the one who had the pet tarantula.'
'That's some qualification.'
'What's yours?'
'I'm nuts.'
She touched my arm. 'Think about it, Alex: where would you rather I be? With you, or alone with Jo next door? There's no reason for her to think we have any way of getting in there. It's the last place she'll look for us, especially if she really is bug-phobic.'
'Nancy,' I said. 'Nancy, Nancy, Nancy.'
'Am I wrong? He's a strange old man, Alex, but in a crazy way he's left a logical trail. Maybe we should see the rest of it, Mr.
I checked again twice. Waited. Checked again. Finally we snuck out.
Staying out of the path-lights as much as we could, we took a tortuously slow route to the big building. Stopping several times to make sure we weren't being followed.
The rain kept battering us. I was so wet I forgot about it.
There, finally.
The three new locks were dead bolts.
The key fit all of them.
One final look around.
I pushed the steel door and we slipped in.
It closed on total darkness- the windowless anteroom.
Safe to turn on the light.
The space was exactly as I recalled: empty, the white tiles spotless.
And dry.
No one had entered recently.
We squeezed out our clothes. I shut off the lights and pushed open the door to the main room.
Cold metal handrails.
Robin's hand even colder.
A softer darkness in the zoo, speckled by pale blue dots in some of the aquariums.
Muted moonlight struggled through the two windows Jo and Pam had broken. Each was dead center in the long walls, the glass punched out but the wire mesh remaining. Water shot through on both sides, making a
