several in a family. It was hard to realize that marriage hadn't always been the norm. A man who couldn't support a family simply didn't marry. And a woman who never got a proposal had no alternative but to stay at home forever. Jane found herself studying these long-dead families and imagining their lives. It was surprising how much you could tell about a different way of life just from names, ages, and the other seemingly impersonal data on the forms. On one sheet, depicting a New York neighborhood at the turn of the century, not a single adult listed his or her place of birth as anywhere in the United States. On a single street there were Rileys, O'Callahans, Kolenskis, Kleinschmids, McSheas, Pfeiffers, and Joneses. What a rich jumble of languages one must have heard spoken along the sidewalks there!
After a bit, Jane folded up the census reports and put them in a pile, then began looking over the rest of the contents of the file. There were a lot of newspaper clippings, some originals protected in plastic sleeves, some photocopies. Most had to do with the Romanovs. One very old one was a small official portrait of Tsar Nicholas and a cousin Sergei not long before the Tsar had abdicated, according to the text of the article, which was from a London newspaper. Perhaps this man was the father of the Gregor Roman that Doris had followed. There was a much larger duplicate of this picture in the folder as well. It was also much clearer — apparently a copy of the actual photograph. On the back was a handwritten notation of where and when the photo had been taken, and the name of a person in Holnagrad. Presumably this was who had supplied it to Doris.
Jane set the clippings on the pile as well. All the rest of the material was handwritten and typed notes. Many of these had to do with Gregory Smith of Colorado. One sheet, a handwritten one, was a sort of chart. It was labeled 'Sheepshead Bay Court Records', with a long film number and three columns. Two names were starred with a red pen:
*Roman G.
Book B
Page 16
Dolman, T.
Book B
Page 601
*Smith, N. D.
Book D
Page 493
Smith, A. C.
Book G
Page 83
Rutheven
,?
Book M
Page 500
Wiley, J.
Book O
Page 4
Aulkunder
, J.
Book Y
Page 342
Sellinger
, Q
Book Y
Page 770
Schellberger
,?
Book Z
Page 113
Harmon, D.
Book AA
Page 612
What on earth was this all about? Jane wondered. Were all these people somehow connected with Gregory Smith? At least in Doris's mind they must have been. The references must have to do with documents, but what kind of documents? The list would surely mean something to somebody who knew how to translate it.
Satisfied that she'd tidied up the file, Jane slipped everything back into the folder and put it on the counter between the kitchen and the dining area. She must remember to give it to Lucky so that it could go to someone to whom it would mean something. She poured herself a cup of coffee, took it back to the living room, and stretched out on one of the sofas to skim through her new copy of
That was where Shelley found her an hour later, sound asleep with the book over her face like a tent.
Chapter 16
'Jane, wake up. The sheriff wants to talk to you,' Shelley hissed.
Jane sat up, angry with herself for falling asleep and feeling so fuddled. 'Give me a minute to slap myself awake,' she said, tearing toward the bathroom, where she slapped some cold water on her face and brushed her teeth fiercely, thinking at least her gums and cheeks would be awake and they were both fairly close to her brain.
As it turned out, she didn't need any special wits for this interview. The sheriff asked her the same things he'd already asked before. Did she know Doris or Bill before coming here? Was she a member of the group that was meeting here? Why did she go to Mrs. Schmidtheiser's cabin? Why did she head toward the snowman? This was a new one and it made Jane laugh, which the sheriff clearly found a distasteful reaction. 'I wasn't 'heading' for anything! It was the first time I ever skied and I had absolutely no control over where I ended up! Do you really imagine I'd have risked running into a tree or something by heading for the woods?'
'I couldn't say. I just couldn't say, ma'am. But it sure is odd that there's two bodies and somebody who says she never knew the people before found both of them, don't you think?'
This was at least the third time he'd made this observation. The first time it had surprised her, the second time it irritated her, but this time — in her own temporary 'home' and with her daughter in the next room — it made her furious.
'Are you making an accusation?' she said coldly.
'No, ma'am. Nosiree. Just sayin' as how it's odd.'
She stood up and walked to the door of the cabin. 'It was unpleasant and unfortunate. And I find this conversation to be even more so. I've told you everything I know. And I've told it to you several times. If you have in mind asking me the same questions again, you'll have to ask them of my lawyer. Frankly, I'm tired of this. Get out of here.'
'Now, don't go gettin' all riled up—'
'Get out!'
He put his hands up. 'Okay, okay, I'm going.' He backed out the door, making vaguely apologetic noises, but Jane cut them off by slamming the door as soon as he was outside. She leaned back against it, shaking.
Shelley looked at her admiringly. 'Wow! I've never seen you do anything like that. I'm really impressed!'
'You're rubbing off on me, I guess. That ignorant, nasty-minded hick! How dare he—'
'Now calm down. He's gone.'
A few minutes and a restorative cup of coffee and cigarette later, Shelley ventured to reopen the subject. 'You see what this means, don't you?'
'I have no idea,' Jane said.
'Look, the people here are bright and much more sophisticated than they like to let on. They wouldn't have anybody as sheriff who really is as much of a rube as he acts like. So he must be smarter than he seems.'
'He'd have to be!'
