The Hellfire Club

Rec'vd L. Chancel: $50,000. 'Lincoln Chancel gave her fifty thousand dollars.'

Dart ambled over to look at the entry. 'Isn't even a date there. It sure as hell doesn't prove she blackmailed him. Nobody could blackmail that old bastard.'

Nora turned another few pages. 'Here are the renovations. Look, five hundred dollars to a roofer, two hundred to a painter. About a week later, the same painter gets another two hundred. Fifteen hundred to a building contractor. Six hundred to B. Smithson, electrician. The painter again. Then down here at the bottom of the page, the contractor is getting another thousand. It goes on and on.'

'The old scorpion guzzled a lot of the widow, didn't she?'

'The widow?'

'The widow Clicquot, you ignoramus. All right, he gave her a lot of money, and she used it to spruce up the place. Chancel was greedy, but he sure as hell wasn't a miser. Made a lot of money and threw half of it away. 'Georgina, you old ratbag, here's fifty thou, whip those hovels into shape, and get yourself a couple cases of the widow while you're at it.' That's what happened.'

'Lincoln Chancel voluntarily gave fifty thousand dollars to a woman he probably despised? At a time when fifty thousand was about three or four hundred thousand in today's money?'

'The man was hardly petty. Besides, he had two other reasons for being generous to Georgina. He wanted to enlist her in his movement, and he met Driver because of her. I bet he had some idea of how much he was going to make out of Night Journey. Fifty thousand was chump change.'

Nora smiled at him. 'You don't want to think that your hero could have been blackmailed.'

'The man was a hero,' Dart said. 'The more you learn about the guy, the better he gets. Anyone tried to blackmail him, he'd start up the chain saw. Trust me.'

Dart adored monsters because he was one himself, but about this he was right: it would not have been easy to extort money out of Lincoln Chancel. Someone knocked at the door.

'Refill,' Dart said. 'Love that woman.'

Marian Cullinan peeped inside. 'Sorry to interrupt, Norma, but you have a phone call. A Mr Deodato?' Dart looked lazily down at her. 'I'll wait in here until you're done,' Marian said.94

Dart closed Marian's door and whispered, 'Be a smart girl, now.' Smiling, he waved her to the telephone. When Nora picked up the receiver, he came up beside her and pressed his head next to hers.

Nora said, 'Jeffrey? It's nice of you to call.'

'That's one way to put it,' Jeffrey said. 'I called before, but some woman told me you were on a tour. Why didn't you phone me?'

'There are hardly any telephones in this place, and I've been pretty busy. I'm sorry you were worried, Jeffrey.'

'What did you think I'd be? Anyhow, I made it most of the way there before the rain stopped me. How did you manage to get to Shorelands?'

'It's not important. Once I saw all those policemen at the hotel, I went out by a side door and ran into a friend who gave me a ride. I'm sorry I couldn't get in touch with you. Where are you now?'

'A gas station outside Lenox. It looks like I'll have to stay here a couple of hours. Look, Nora, I have some important things to tell you.'

'You must have walked into all those cops.'

'Did I ever. I spent most of the day at the police station. I was sure I was going to be arrested, but they finally let me go.'

'I saw Davey just before I left. Did he meet your mother?'

'That's one of the things I want to tell you. He came to her house with a couple of FBI agents. It was quite a scene. Davey broke down and cried. Even my mother was touched. From what she told me, all hell broke loose in Westerholm this morning. Davey went to his father with what you told him last night, and Alden threw him out of the Poplars. Davey's falling apart. He wants you back. I didn't know how you'd feel about that, so instead of calling him after I talked to my mother, I wanted to get in touch with you. I'd prefer to be doing it in person, but from here on the road is under water.'

'Instead of calling him? Why would you call Davey?'

'To tell him you might have gone to Shorelands. Or, what I was afraid of, that Dick Dart had managed to get ahold of you again.'

'I don't understand.'

'That's because you don't know the rest of my news. After I get to Shorelands, you'll probably want to come back to Northampton with me. Or I could drive you back to Connecticut, if that's what you want to do.'

Dart pulled the knife from his belt sheath and held it in front of her face.

'Jeffrey, slow down. I have to stay here tonight, and I don't want you to come until tomorrow. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. How could I go back to Connecticut, anyhow?'

'Well, it's kind of strange, but everything's cleared up,' he said. 'You're not wanted anymore.'

Dart's eyes flicked toward her.

'What happened? How do you know, anyhow?'

'My mother. Nobody really understands this yet, but one of the FBI men said that Natalie Weil has completely recanted. She told the police that you didn't kidnap her after all.'

'I'm in the clear?'

'As far as I know. The whole thing seems very confused, but I guess Natalie did say that she was wrong or mistaken or something, and she's sorry she ever involved you.'

Dart's gaze had become flat and suspicious. Nora said, 'I don't understand that.'

'I get the impression that Natalie has everybody a bit baffled, but it's certainly good news as far as you're concerned. The only thing the police want to talk to you about now is Dick Dart. He got out of Northampton by stealing an antique Duesenberg, if you can believe that.'

'Did he really?' Nora asked.

'Why don't I pick you up as soon as I can and take you wherever you want to go?'

'I know it's a tremendous inconvenience, but I want to stay here and wrap up the work I'm doing.'

'You want me to wait at this gas station until the rain stops and then drive back to Northampton?' He seemed almost dumbfounded.

'I wish there were a way to do this that would be easier on you.'

'So do I. Can you call me tomorrow? After about eight in the morning, I'll probably be at my mother's house.' His voice was flat.

'I'll call you.'

'You want me to call Davey and tell him you're okay?'

'Please, no.'

'You must be on to something pretty interesting, to want to stay there.'

'I know you deserve better than this, Jeffrey. You're a good friend.'

'Have I earned the right to give you some advice?'

'More than that.'

'Leave him. He'll never be anything but what he is right now, and that isn't good enough for someone like you.'

'So long, Jeffrey.'

Dart set down the telephone. 'I think you broke his heart. Jeffrey wanted to spend the night with my own Nora-pie. But let's consider a more crucial matter. Little Natalie has recanted. You never kidnapped the whore after all.' He waved his hands in circles at the sides of his head. 'The curse of Shorelands strikes again; we're wading through lies.' Dart put the point of the knife under her chin and brushed it against her skin. 'Help me out here.'

'I can't explain it.' Nora raised her chin, and Dart jabbed her lightly, indenting her skin without breaking it. 'You heard him. Nobody understands what Natalie's doing.'

'Give it your best shot.'

'Natalie's been medicated for days. I don't think she can even remember what happened. And she takes drugs. Davey told me the cops found a bag of cocaine somewhere in her house.'

'Adventurous Natalie.'

'Maybe she can't remember what I did. Maybe she has some other reason for lying. I don't know, and I don't