Betty studied the drawing carefully.
Colin was startled by her fingernails. They were about an inch long, painted a carmine red. He'd never seen anything like them and wondered how she typed.
'I think I know where to find this,' she said. 'Just a minute.' Taking long strides she walked back into the stacks. Colin looked around. On Betty's desk he noticed a copy of
Betty returned, holding an open book. 'I think this is what you're looking for.' She handed it to him, the red nail of her thumb marking the place like a bloody talon. 'If it's not what you want I'll look further.'
'Thanks very much.' He sat down at a table and began reading:
The swastika is generally considered a form of the cross whose extremities are bent back at right angles. This popular device is known by many names, probably because of its widespread distribution throughout the ancient world. From the Sanskrit word it may be freely translated into 'it is well' or 'so be it” implying acceptance and denoting life, movement, pleasure, happiness, and good luck.
Theories and speculation as to the origin of the swastika are conflicting. This mystic symbol, common to both eastern and western peoples, seems to appear and reappear consistently, yet always is its significance one of happy omen.
Colin skimmed the paragraphs devoted to what the symbol meant in different countries until he came to America:
In America it is found in prehistoric burial grounds. From the earliest times this famous sign undoubtedly indicated the rotation of the heavens, expressed the power of the sun, sky, and rain gods, and symbolized all harmonious movement springing from a central source.
The many interpretations assigned to the swastika are indeed bewildering. But for the sake of brevity we may conclude by saying that in modern times it is best known as a symbol of motion, good fortune, health, and long life.
He closed the book and carried it over to Betty. 'Thanks very much.' On her desk
'When you talk to Annie, tell her I said hello,' she said.
'I will. And thanks again.'
At the door he glanced back over his shoulder just as Betty was turning the page of the paper. He sprinted to his car and drove away immediately.
More bewildered than ever, he wondered why a murderer would carve a symbol of good fortune and long life into the chest of his victim? Could it be that the killer meant it to be a Nazi swastika after all? Somehow he didn't think so. Then what? The answer came to him with numbing clarity. The symbol must have special meaning to the murderer, a code of some sort. A code he'd have to break if he wanted to stay in Seaville.
When Colin didn't show up or call, Annie called him. The line was busy. And it stayed busy. She asked the operator to try the number. The operator said the phone was out of order. Annie was sure it was off the hook.
It had been Burton Kelly who'd brought her the article. He was waiting for her at her office, the newspaper under his arm.
'I have something to show you,' he said.
She smiled, trying to make him feel less awkward about having been rejected by her. 'Come in, Burton. Aren't you working today?'
'I'm going in late.'
She sat at her desk, swiveling the chair around to face him. 'What can I do for you?'
His face was stony. He held out the paper. 'Have you seen this?'
'No, not yet.'
He handed it to her.
'What is it?'
'Read it.'
She tried to decipher Burton's expression, but she couldn't glean anything from his face. Yet something made her afraid. Glancing down at the paper she saw Colin's picture. He looked terrible- gaunt, his eyes staring straight out. And then she read the headline.
When she finished the article she asked calmly, 'Why are you showing this to me, Burton?'
His mouth twitched to the left. 'I think that's obvious.'
'Is it?'
'He's a dangerous man.'
'I don't see where it says that.'
'It's clear. All you have to do is read between the lines.'
She stood up, slapping the paper back in his open hand.
He was startled. 'I thought you'd want to know. I mean, under the circumstances.'
She didn't ask him what he meant; she knew. 'Is there anything else, Burton? I have a nine-fifteen appointment, so if there's nothing else I'd like to get ready for it.'
He pressed his lips together, tugged at his belt, hitching up his pants. 'You're playing with fire,' he said.
'Burton, what I do with my personal life is no concern of yours. Now if you'll excuse-'
'It's a concern of the board's, though.'
'Is that a threat?'
'Just some friendly advice. You'd better watch your p's and q's.'
'Thanks for the advice.' She pointedly looked at her watch.
'All right, I'm going. But don't say I didn't warn you.'
When he was gone she had immediately dialed Colin's number. It was busy.
And now it was half an hour past the time he was expected to dinner. She knew that he wasn't coming, had known it most of the day.
The shock of reading the newspaper account had lessened. She supposed the worst part of it was that he hadn't told her the truth. As she'd said to Peg when she called, 'I thought we had a real rapport, that there was a basic honesty between us.'
Peg said, 'Give me a break, Annie. Would you have told Colin if things had been reversed?'
'I think I would have. I mean, why not? It isn't as if he was guilty.'
'Annie, the murderer has never been caught. I guess there's still some suspicion about him. Or at least it was there between the lines.'
She'd wanted to shout at Peg, tell her she was just as bad as Burton Kelly. But she hadn't. She got off the phone and read the article again. This time she saw that the implication was there.
But her main concern was what Colin must have suffered at the time, still suffered. She couldn't imagine anything worse. When Bob had died she'd been devastated. She tried to think what it might have been like if he'd been murdered, but couldn't. And in Colin's case there were his children. It was almost impossible to know what she would have felt in his circumstances. Surely rage. Bitterness. And frustration. She was amazed that Colin functioned as well as he did.
During the day ten people came in to show her the article and sixteen phoned to tell her about it. So it wasn't odd that Colin had taken his phone off the hook. If she'd gotten calls, he must have too. But why hadn't he phoned her? Surely he must have known she'd be on his side. Still, he might have felt embarrassed by not having told her the truth. And maybe he was trying to protect her by not appearing at her house.
Well, that was foolish. They were friends, weren't they? Were Colin anyone else she would have gone to his house and tried to comfort him. She was, after all, a minister.
The night was cool. She slipped a sweater over her shoulders and went down the back steps. Behind the wheel she faced a truth. She wasn't going to Colin as a minister, she was going to him as a woman. And it felt perfectly fine.
LOOKING BACK-50 YEARS AGO
