'How long ago was it?'
'Oh, possibly a year and a half. I didn't say anything to my father and step-mother. I was--I was ashamed that men were like that to me, and that--'
'How do you know,' I grumbled, 'that most men aren't like that to most women? What makes you think your case is so damned unique? If your ears were sharp enough, you could listen now and hear a thousand women in San Francisco making the same complaint, and--God knows--maybe half of them would be thinking themselves sincere.'
She took her hands away from me and sat up straight on the bed. Some pink came into her face.
'Now you have made me feel silly,' she said.
'Not much sillier than I do. I'm supposed to be a detective. Since this job began, I've been riding around on a merry-go-round, staying the same distance behind your curse, suspecting what it'd look like if I could get face to face with it, but never getting there. I will now. Can you stand another week or two?'
'You mean--?'
'I'm going to show you that your curse is a lot of hooey, but it'll take a few days, maybe a couple of weeks.'
She was round-eyed and trembling, wanting to believe me, afraid to. I said:
'That's settled. What are you going to do now?'
'I--I don't know. Do you mean what you've said? That this can be ended? That I'll have no more--? That you can--?'
'Yeah. Could you go back to the house in the cove for a while? It might help things along, and you'll be safe enough there. We could take Mrs. Herman with us, and maybe an op or two.'
'I'll go,' she said.
I looked at my watch and stood up saying:
'Better go back to bed. We'll move down tomorrow. Good night.'
She chewed her lower lip, wanting to say something, not wanting to say it, finally blurting it out:
'I'll have to have morphine down there.'
'Sure. What's your day's ration?'
'Five--ten grains.'
'That's mild enough,' I said, and then, casually: 'Do you like using the stuff?'
'I'm afraid it's too late for my liking or not liking it to matter.'
'You've been reading the Hearst papers,' I said. 'If you want to break off, and we've a few days to spare down there, we'll use them weaning you. It's not so tough.'
She laughed shakily, with a queer twitching of her mouth.
'Go away,' she cried. 'Don't give me any more assurances, any more of your promises, please. I can't stand any more tonight. I'm drunk on them now. Please go away.'
'All right. Night.'
'Good night--and thanks.'
I went into my room, closing the door. Mickey was unscrewing the top of a flask. His knees were dusty. He turned his half-wit's grin on me and said:
'What a swell dish you are. What are you trying to do? Win yourself a home?'
'Sh-h-h. Anything new?'
'The master minds have gone back to the county seat. The red-head nurse was getting a load at the keyhole when I came back from feeding. I chased her.'
'And took her place?' I asked, nodding at his dusty knees.
You couldn't embarrass Mickey. He said:
'Hell, no. She was at the other door, in the hall.'
XX. The House in the Cove
I got Fitzstephan's car from the garage and drove Gabrielle and Mrs. Herman down to the house in the cove late the following morning. The girl was in low spirits. She made a poor job of smiling when spoken to, and had nothing to say on her own account. I thought she might be depressed by the thought of returning to the house she had shared with Collinson, but when we got there she went in with no appearance of reluctance, and being there didn't seem to increase her depression.
After luncheon--Mrs. Herman turned out to be a good cook--Gabrielle decided she wanted to go outdoors, so she and I walked over to the Mexican settlement to see Mary Nunez. The Mexican woman promised to come back to work the next day. She seemed fond of Gabrielle, but not of me.
We returned home by way of the shore, picking a path between scattered rocks. We walked slowly. The girl's forehead was puckered between her eyebrows. Neither of us said anything until we were within a quarter of a mile of the house. Then Gabrielle sat down on the rounded top of a boulder that was warm in the sun.
'Can you remember what you told me last night?' she asked, running her words together in her hurry to get them out. She looked frightened.
'Yeah.'
