The Hellfire Club

'Davey?'

The shocked silence, which rode atop a swell of violins and horns, continued until Nora filled it herself. 'Davey, it's me.'

'Nora?'

'Can you talk to me?'

'Where are you?' His voice sounded a little slower than usual.

'Is it safe to talk?'

'How did you know I was here?'

'That's not important. Is this line tapped?'

'How should I know? No, I don't think it is. My father got rid of Jeffrey and the Italian girl, so that's why I'm in Jeffrey's apartment.' A blast of music obliterated his next few words.

'Davey, please turn down the music. I can't hear you.'

He must have waved a remote control, because the music instantly subsided. 'So how are you? Are you okay? You sound okay.'

'It's a little complicated. How are you?'

'Lousy,' Davey said. 'I've been worried sick ever since Dart grabbed you out of the police station. I thought he was going to kill you. You know how I found out? The receptionist saw it on television on her break! She called me, and I ran downstairs. There were about twenty people around her desk. For half an hour they were showing stuff about you and Dick Dart, and then Dad took me back to Westerholm. Ever since, all we do is watch the news channel and talk to cops. And Mr Hashim and Mr Shull, boy, do we ever talk to those guys. Mr Shull is sort of cool in a dumb kind of way. They both really hate Holly Fenn. They'd like to skin him alive.'

Nora heard the sound of ice cubes chiming against glass. 'Holly Fenn should get canned, he messed up big- time on this one. Hey, Nora, are you really all right?'

'In some ways, Davey.'

'When Mr Shull told us you got away, I was really glad.'

'Glad.'

'I was relieved. Don't you think I was relieved?'

'Davey, can I come home?'

'What do you mean?'

Her heart sank at the suspicion in his voice. 'Is Natalie still accusing me of kidnapping her?'

'From what I hear, Natalie still isn't saying anything at all. Mr Hashim and Mr Shull still think you're guilty.' He hesitated. 'Natalie took a lot of drugs, did you know that?'

'No.'

'One of those cops found a coke stash taped to the back of a drawer in her bedroom. Remember her refrigerator magnets? I guess they should have told us something.' Again she heard ice cubes rattling in a glass. 'Were you in Holyoke?'

'Yes,' Nora said.

'You drove to Holyoke and ditched that dead man's car?'

'I didn't intend to. I went into a restaurant and had something to eat, and when I came out the police were all over the place.'

'You went into a restaurant? You had something to eat? What is this, a field trip?'

'I have to eat now and then,' Nora said.

'But you could have come home. It makes you look so guilty when you hide out like this.'

'Come home where - to the Poplars?' Nora asked. 'I suppose Alden would greet me with shouts of joy.'

'Come home and face the music, I mean. My father doesn't have anything to do with that. He didn't do anything wrong.'

'Neither did I,' Nora said. 'But I bet your father is trying his damnedest to make you think I did.' Another chink of ice cubes. 'What are you drinking, Davey?'

'Vodka. Did you know that Jeffrey supposedly wrote plays that were put on at the Public Theater? I asked him about these posters he has up in his living room, and he claimed he wrote these plays, under the name Jeffrey Mannheim. I don't think he did, do you? They got awfully good reviews.'

'Jeffrey has hidden depths,' Nora said.

'He's the Italian girl's nephew, for God's sake! What kind of hidden depths could he have?' He took another chiming mouthful of the drink. 'Yeah, forget Dad. Of course my father is running you down all over the place. Mom is even worse. She thinks you arranged to be kidnapped by Dick Dart. She wishes she'd thought of it. I think Mr Hashim almost sort of believes her.'

'Wonderful.'

'I tell you, Nora, I've been really worried about you, but I have no idea what you think you're doing.'

This had the ring of an accusation. 'Mainly, Davey, I've been trying to stay away from Dick Dart and avoid the police until it's safe to come back home.'

'The cops found a lot of new clothes from a fancy men's store in that car, and when they went to the shop, the salesman remembered the two of you very well. Dick Dart tried on a bunch of new suits, and you just sat there and watched him. Then the cops went up and down the street, and they find out that the two of you have been in half the shops in town. Everybody remembers this nice lovey-dovey couple.'

'Dick Dart is a lunatic, Davey. Do you think I cooperated with him because I like him? I hate him, he makes my skin crawl. If I had done anything to call attention to myself, he would have killed me.'

'Not if he couldn't see you,' Davey said. 'Like if he was in a changing room.'

'I wasn't feeling all that confident, Davey. Just before we went on our shopping expedition, he raped me. I wasn't actually thinking too clearly. I felt like I'd been broken in half, and I wasn't up for any heroics.'

'Oh God, oh no, I'm so sorry, Nora.'

'I didn't cooperate with him, in case you're wondering. I was trying too hard not to pass out. Besides, my hands were tied behind my back and my mouth was taped shut.'

'You must have been scared to death.'

'It was even worse than that, Davey, but I'll spare your feelings.'

'Why didn't you tell me before?'

'Because you didn't ask me any real questions. You went on and on about Jeffrey and watching the receptionist's television. Also because you didn't sound too sympathetic, and now I know why. You imagined that I was having all that fun with Dick Dart. You want to know how I got away from him? I hit him on the head with a hammer. I thought I'd killed him. I got outside and started the car, but what do you know, I didn't kill him after all, because he came charging out of the motel room, and I steered toward him and hit him with the car.'

'My God. That's terrific.'

'It would have been terrific if I'd killed him, but I didn't. He's still wandering around trying to find people who might help prove that your beloved Hugo Driver didn't write Night Journey.'

Davey made a strangled sound of protest and outrage, but Nora ignored it. 'He just found out where I am, and now he's probably sharpening his knives so he can do a really good job on me.'

'Where are you?'

'If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. You can't even tell them we had this conversation,'

'Sure.'

'I'm serious, Davey. You can't tell anyone.'

'I won't. I just want to know where you are.'

'I'm in Northampton, in a room in the Northampton Hotel.'

'Hold on a sec.'

She heard him put down the receiver. A refrigerator door opened, and ice cubes chinked into a glass. Liquid gurgled from a bottle. He came back to the telephone. 'What are you doing in Northampton?'

'I'm hiding, what do you think I'm doing?'

'Hold on, does this have anything to do with Jeffrey? Did he tell you I was staying in his apartment? Are you with Jeffrey? What the hell are you doing with Jeffrey?'