have been Mrs Weil's blood.'
'None at all. But everything connected to Natalie's disappearance is strange.'
'Yes, let's turn to Mrs Weil at this point. Mrs Weil said a lot of contradictory things, but she did give us one new bit of information.'
Barbara Widdoes spoke for the first time. 'You were aware that your husband and Mrs Weil were having an affair, weren't you?'
'I only found out on Saturday afternoon.'
'How did that happen?'
'Davey told me. He was very distressed about what had happened to her, and he blurted it out.'
'You deny any involvement in Mrs Weil's abduction and mistreatment?'
'It still isn't clear that abduction occurred,' Holly said.
'Holly, you were in my office Saturday morning,' said Barbara Widdoes. 'You saw the woman go into hysterics when she saw Mrs Chancel and stay that way until she was sedated. What occurred is pretty clear to me, and it ought to be clear to you, too. Mrs Chancel learned about her husband's affair, removed the victim from her bedroom, and kept her prisoner in her old stamping grounds, the former nursery. I'm sure you remember the incident. She detained her there until the victim managed to escape. I don't like all these coincidences. We have a pattern here, and I don't think Mrs Chancel should be permitted to leave this station until she is read her rights and booked on a variety of charges.'
'Somebody finally came out with it,' said Mr Shull.
'You want to arrest me?' Nora asked. 'I didn't do anything to Natalie. I wouldn't treat my worst enemy that way.' She looked across the desk at Holly Fenn. 'Didn't you say Natalie contradicted herself? About me?'
'Didn't she, Barbara?' Holly said. 'You think about this, too, Mr Shull. We have a victim one step away from saying she was abducted by little green people from outer space.
She says Mrs Chancel forced her out of her house and locked her up in the old nursery, but is there anything in all that about the animal blood in the bedroom?'
He focused on Nora again. 'Here's the situation with Mrs Weil. The first thing she said when we went in there this morning was that you went to her house, threatened her with a knife, drove her to that building, and chained her up. Two minutes later we want her to repeat her story so we can take a statement, and she says she has no idea what happened to her. She looks back at the past week, and it's all a fog. She thinks she found her own way to the South Post Road but couldn't say how or why. So we write that down all over again and read it back to her and we say. Is that what happened? and she says, I don't remember. Then she lies there for a while, and after that she can respond to questions again, and we ask her about you, and she cries and says you took her to the building, and the whole thing starts all over again.' He looked over at Barbara Widdoes. 'Is that accurate? Have I exaggerated anything?'
'Holly, our victim is considerably disordered. But she keeps returning to the accusation, and that's enough for me. Give her another day or two, she'll be able to connect the dots.'
'Barbara, Mrs Weil keeps returning to the kidnapping story, yes, but she also keeps returning to wandering away by herself. Unless Mrs Chancel gives us a confession and pleads guilty, we'll have to put our victim on the stand. Do you think we really have a case here?'
Barbara Widdoes glanced at Mr Shull. 'We have the grandmother of all motives, she had nothing but opportunity, and we'll come up with physical evidence in about ten seconds. In the old nursery where Mrs Chancel took a child the first time she experimented with kidnapping.'
Nora and Holly Fenn both began to protest, but Barbara Widdoes stood up and said, 'I want to move on to the next phase. As soon as we process Mrs Chancel, she can get in touch with her lawyer.' She looked down at Nora. 'In fact, your lawyer is probably here. Aren't you a Dart, Morris client? Leo Morris is waiting for charges to be filed against Mr Dart, and we'll be doing that after we finish with you. If you like, I could advise him of your situation and tell him you have asked to see him.'
Nora swiveled in her chair to look at Holly. 'This is really happening? I'm going to be arrested for something I didn't do?'
'Barbara's our station commander. This is her call. Get your lawyer on it.'
The entirety of her situation burst upon her, and its sheer, improbable hopelessness caused her to slump against the back of the chair and laugh out loud. Everybody in the room stared at her, exhibiting emotions from concern to contempt.
'Mrs Chancel,
'I wish you knew what else is going on in my life.'
Holly looked at his watch as he came around the side of his desk. 'I'd let you use my phone to call your husband, but we're running out of time. I want to get you through our procedures before the Dick Dart circus gets out of hand. When we're done, I'll take you around to one of the interview rooms. You can use the phone there while you wait for Leo Morris.'
She stood up.
'We need a little time with Mrs Chancel, too,' said Mr Shull.
'How could I forget?' Holly placed his hand between her shoulder blades and urged her forward. 'If we don't get this done fast, it'll take hours. Everything's going to go crazy around here in about ten minutes.'
'Everything already has gone crazy,' Nora said.
Holly opened the door with one hand while keeping the other on her back, moved her into the corridor, and followed immediately behind. Voices and the tramp of feet came from the front of the station, and before Barbara Widdoes and the FBI men were out of the office, a crowd of men burst around the corner and came hurrying toward them. At the front of the crowd. Officer LeDonne was a few paces in front of Leo Morris, who gave Nora a look of intense, unfriendly curiosity. Next to the lawyer, Dick Dart, in a gray suit and a white shirt but without a necktie, caught sight of Nora and grinned.
'What's this?' said Holly. 'Cripes, they're taking him around the back to keep him away from the reporters. I'll send them back to the cells so we can take care of you first.'
Officer LeDonne slowed down at the sight of Holly Fenn, and the other two men bumped into him.
'LeDonne, take this man back to the holding cell. I want my other business out of the way before we deal with him. Is that okay with you. Counselor?'
Leo Morris gloomily inspected Nora with his dark-rimmed eyes.
Nora tried to back through the door so that Dick Dart would stop grinning at her, but Barbara Widdoes pressed against her and gripped her arms.
'Davey Chancel's lovely spouse,' Dart said. Nora closed her eyes.
Holly turned to LeDonne.' Take them back and keep the reporters away.'
Before LeDonne could respond, a second group burst around the corner and filled the corridor, bawling out questions. Two or three men with video cameras on their shoulders forced their way to the front of the crowd.
'Everybody stop!' Holly shouted. 'People, stop moving. LeDonne, wait a second before you lead the prisoner around the back. I want our station commander to take these men into her office. Mrs Chancel and I will wait here.'
Barbara Widdoes released her grip on Nora and squeezed out of the office, followed by the FBI men. They escaped down the corridor.
Holly raised his voice. 'Media people, go back to the front of the station, this is not permissible, am I understood?'
'Nora-pie,' said Dick Dart, and she looked up at the eyes sparkling in his grinning face.
Leo Morris and Holly Fenn suggested in their various fashions that Dart refrain from speaking, but he held Nora's eyes with his own and said, 'What an interesting day.' Then he wrapped his left arm around Officer LeDonne's neck and snatched his revolver from its holster so quickly that LeDonne was straining against the arm clamped over his throat, and the revolver was aimed at his temple before Nora was aware that Dart had moved at all.
LeDonne stopped struggling, and Holly stepped forward.
The reporters fell silent. Dart tightened his ringer on the trigger. 'Now, now,' he said. 'Be a good boy.'
Holly held up his hands. 'Mr Dart, you are in a police station. Release the officer and surrender his weapon.'
