Body In The Belfry

occasion.' Faith smiled primly, secure in the knowledge that rising to that sort of occasion was something she would never have to do.

“It's certainly not one of the topics we wrestled with in Divinity School. Now what do you say to some sleep ? Frequent and prolonged or whatever.'

“Good idea. I am exhausted. This has been a very busy day, if I may be permitted the greatest understatement of my life, so far anyway.'

“You may and it is,' Tom agreed.

Faith followed him upstairs and wondered briefly if he had found Cindy attractive. She had worn sex the way other girls wore makeup. Depending on the circumstances, it could be the full treatment or a hint of lipstick and powder. Whatever it was, though, it was always there, unsettling and devastatingly provocative. Faith started to ask, then changed her mind. It was one of those questions, like whether there really is life after death, that she didn't want answered for sure.

They looked in at Ben, marveled at that splendid accomplishment babies perform—breathing—and went to bed.

They were not prepared for an insistent ringing at six o'clock the next morning. Faith woke up and wondered groggily why Benjamin was making such an odd noise. She was at the side of his crib looking down at a peacefully sleeping child before she realized it was the doorbell.

She ran back into their bedroom, fully awake.

“Tom!' she cried, 'wake up! Somebody 's at the door!”

Tom was a very sound sleeper. She shook him. ' Tom ! Somebody's ringing the bell !'

“ What ? Not again ? ' he mumbled.

“ The doorbell ! Someone is ringing our doorbell !”

“All right, all right.' He roused himself, got out of bed, and struggled into his robe. Faith followed him downstairs, hovering anxiously.

“ Be sure to ask who it is, Tom,' she cautioned as she moved toward the poker by the fireplace.

“Faith, murderers usually don't ring the doorbell,' Tom said. Like Benjamin, he was a slow waker and apt to sound snappish. 'But if you like, I'll ask.' Feeling slightly foolish, he addressed the solid oak door. “Who is it?'

“It's me, Dave. Dave Svenson.' Tom quickly opened the door. 'I hope I didn't wake you folks, but I thought with the baby, you'd probably be up by now and anyway I was getting tired of waiting.”

It turned out that Dave had spent most of the night crouched under the large willows in the backyard, and he looked it. There were deep circles under his eyes and his normally ruddy Nordic complexion was pale and wan. Tom led him straight into the kitchen for some sustenance, wondering what was going on besides what was going on.

“Dave,' he said soberly and with as much dignity as an old plaid Pendleton bathrobe could lend, 'I know how you must be grieving. It is difficult to lose someone you love whatever the circumstances, but to have it happen in this cruel and senseless way tests all our belief. It is not much comfort now, but time will help and I hope you will come and talk with me whenever you feel like it.”

Dave was looking at him in some bewilderment andTom wondered if he was in shock or if the bathrobe was simply too incongruous.

“That's very kind of you, sir,' he said as Faith entered the kitchen. She had hastily thrown on a pair of jeans and a shirt and grabbed Benjamin, hoping not to miss anything. She hadn't.

Dave opened his mouth and a garbled bunch of words came tumbling out.

“The cops are looking for me everywhere and they may be here soon. They think I did it and they're right. I mean,' he amended hastily after seeing the looks of horror and disbelief on Faith and Tom's faces, horror for Tom, disbelief for Faith, 'they're right that I wanted to kill her. I didn't actually do it, but I could have. I really think I would have done it if somebody hadn't beaten me to it.'

“ But Dave, if you didn't do it, why are you avoiding the police ? ' Tom asked.

“It's a long story,' he answered, looking out the window anxiously as if he expected MacIsaac to be peering in.

Faith took his arm and led him to the table.

“Sit down. I'll get us something to eat and you can tell us about it,' she offered.

She put Ben in his playpen and stuck sonic plastic keys in his hand. He smiled benevolently at her. She was not deceived. She just hoped his fascination with the toy lasted long enough for Dave to tell his story.

She took some of her sour cream waffles from the freezer, put them in the microwave, and started the coffee. A lot of coffee. She had visited the Svensons and the house always smelled like freshly baked bread and Maxwell House. It was unusual to see one of the Svenson family without a mug in hand. Dave had started to talk again ; he grasped the cup she put in front of him as it was a lifeline.

“ Wednesday night Cindy and I had a wicked big fight. I had finally told her I couldn't marry her. I know I shouldn 't have waited this long, but every time I tried I just couldn't tell her. We'd been together so many years and—well, she could be very nice at times.”

Faith had a pretty good idea of what being nice meant and gave a small knowing nod toward Tom.

“I came home and told my parents and I planned to tell the Moores on Thursday, but I didn't want to see Cindy. I knew if I stayed away from her for a while I could stick to it. We've broken up before, but I always went back when she called. You don't know how much I've hated myself this past year. And hated her.”

Faith pried the empty mug from his grasp and gave him a refill along with a stack of waffles.

“ I'm sorry, Dave,' Tom said, ' I wish I could have helped you. I must confess I didn't think the marriage was a good idea, but I thought you wanted it.'

“ So didn't everybody. Even my parents. I guess a lot of people thought I was marrying her for the money. And she did give me a lot of expensive things, like this watch.' He looked at the Rolex on his wrist in horror as if it had suddenly started to ooze slime. He quickly took it off and dropped it on the floor. Faith retrieved it and put it on the counter. A Rolex was a Rolex, after all.

“The truth is, I was marrying her because I didn't have the guts not to. She's had her whole life planned since she was eight years old. She picked me then and in her mind there was no backing out. But I did.'

“Dave, just because you fought doesn 't mean the police suspect you,' Tom said firmly.

“ Maybe not, but the fact that the person she was waiting for in the belfry was me does.'

“What ? ' Faith exclaimed.

Dave nodded his head. The circles under his eyes madehim look like an underripe jack o 'lantern. One of the sad ones.

“She called my house all day Thursday and I wouldn 't talk to her, then Friday she called at the crack of dawn and told my mother her parents wanted an explanation, which was a lie, I 'm pretty sure. She never told them anything. But my mother was getting upset, so I told Mom to tell her I'd see her and she said she'd be waiting in the belfry at noon. We used to go up there a lot.'

“S-E-X,' Faith mouthed over his head. Tom pretended not to see.

“She called back later to make sure I'd gotten the message and Mrs. McKinley was there drinking coffee with Mom and heard the whole thing. So you know there wasn 't a person in Aleford who didn 't know I was meeting Cindy in the belfry.'

“But Dave,' Faith said, 'I started walking up the hill around noon and I didn 't see you and I would have. It's not that big and the top is flat.'

“That's because I didn't go. I didn't like going against my mother, but she didn 't know Cindy the way I did. I guess I didn 't trust myself and maybe I hoped I 'd make her so mad, she would agree to break up. I started going in that direction, then turned and went for a walk in the woods by the railroad tracks instead. The later it got, the freer I felt. Then I went home, got my car, and drove into town to do some studying at the library. I didn 't even hear she was dead until I got home last night.'

“ And of course nobody saw you down at the tracks,' Tom said.

“That's the problem. Some guy on a dirt bike buzzed by, but I have no idea who it was or what time he was there,' Dave answered morosely.

“I know they're looking for me' he went on, 'be- cause they've been to the house twice. My parents were worried sick and when I walked in they both started talking at once.”

Which must have been an event tantamount to sunshine in Stockholm in January for the taciturn Svenson