Fremont wanted?”
“Margie,” Judith said simply. “She’d hardly be suspicious of such an innocent question. Even though she
may have delivered the drinks—though not her husband’s booze—it wouldn’t dawn on her that Jim had
purchased the stuff.”
SUTURE SELF
313
“Still,” Renie put in, “it must have occurred to
Margie that the lethal drugs were in those drinks.
That’s why she referred to herself as ‘the vessel.’ ”
Joe was still looking skeptical. “How,” he asked,
“could Jim ensure that he’d actually get corneas if he
wasn’t at the top of the list?”
“He couldn’t,” Judith said. “First of all, he may not
have been down as far as you’d think. Even if the
medical tests showed that something was wrong, it
wasn’t really him undergoing the tests. If one of the
homeless men turned up with a problem, Jim could
simply ask to retake the test and claim a medical mistake. But another key was the weather. Organs are
flown in from all over the country. When we first met
Jim, he mentioned that he knew there was a big storm
coming in. That usually means the airport is closed—
and it was—so that if a local donor died, the corneas
could only be delivered by helicopter. And, having
maneuvered himself to the top of the city’s list, he
knew he’d be here to receive them. Even if he wasn’t
number one, he was at the hospital. Another recipient
might not have been able to reach a hospital in this
weather.”
“Taylor,” Renie murmured. “I overheard Bob Randall talking to someone named Taylor. Addison Kirby
said that was the name of his wife’s eye doctor. Maybe
he was Jim’s doctor, too, and Bob was thanking him
for good news, like Jim being near the top of the recipient list.”
“That would make sense,” Judith said.
Joe sucked in his breath, an effort that obviously cost
him pain. “So a cold-blooded killer with new eyes is
lying across the hall from us?”
Judith nodded. “I’m afraid he is.”
314
Mary Daheim
Woody shook his head. “I’ve never heard of such a
strange homicide case. All those innocent victims.”
“Three in the hospital,” Judith said. “The number
three was symbolic to Jim. His brother had saved three
lives—Jim’s, and two children who were rescued by
Bob from a house fire. It was as if Jim had to do just
the opposite—take three successful lives, including
that of the mirror twin who had saved him from drowning. The three homeless men may have—perhaps subconsciously—symbolized his own inferiority. Jim felt
like them—a loser.”
“I wonder,” Renie said, “if Bob was really as big a
