enough death and suffering, and heard enough screaming, to last more than a lifetime. Now I swept her up in my arms, cradled her head on my chest, and turned so that she could not see the expression of terror and shock on Mary's face. 'Nothing's wrong, sweetheart,' I whispered in her ear. 'Garth just dropped something.'
Garth stood very still in front of the window, watching me, his face impassive, but his eyes gleaming with anxiety. The child in my arms was breathing regularly, and her eyes were closed. I nodded reassuringly to my brother, and only then did he turn, lean out the open window, and look down at the water below. He remained there for almost a minute, but apparently didn't see anything, for he finally turned away and headed for the door.
'Don't go down there, Garth,' Mary said in a low voice that vibrated with tension. 'It's a trick. You don't know anything about him. He's a very dangerous man.'
Garth stopped and stared at his wife, and I could see in his soulful brown eyes the same surprise and confusion I felt at Mary's curious behavior. Garth and I had seen Mary shot at, and we had witnessed her instantly turn away from a lifelong faith in pacifism to shoot a man who had been about to kill Garth. Mary Tree was certainly no coward, and yet she appeared to be totally intimidated by the man Garth had just thrown out the window. Finally Garth simply shook his head, turned, and walked out of the room. Mary put one hand to her mouth and looked at me in alarm. I didn't know what to do, and so I merely shrugged as best I could with the girl in my arms. After a few more moments of hesitation, Mary bolted for the door to go after Garth.
Satisfied that Vicky was asleep, I carried her back to her bedroom. I put her to bed, tucked her in, then went out, closing the door quietly behind me. I went back to the music room, walked over to the window, leaned over, and looked down. Garth was almost directly below me, slowly paddling his canoe in the area where Sacra Silver would have fallen. The river's surface was placid, reflecting the light from the full moon overhead. Mary was out of sight, and I assumed she was standing up on the section of beach beneath the overhang. Garth looked up, saw me at the window.
'Can you see anything from up there?' my brother asked.
I shook my head, then turned away from the window and headed for the door.
Garth stayed out on the river almost forty minutes, paddling the canoe in ever-widening circles in a systematic search for our departed guest. Finally he paddled back to shore, pulled the craft up onto the beach in front of the boathouse, then came over to where I was standing next to a silent, pensive Mary. I noticed that Garth did not look at his wife.
'He's not dead, Garth,' Mary blurted suddenly, turning and gripping Garth's right forearm with both hands. 'He just wants you to think he's dead, make you worry. I know him.' She paused and sucked in a deep breath, screwed her eyes shut, and rapidly shook her head back and forth. 'Damn him.
'I'm not worried,' Garth said in an even tone. 'If he's dead, so be it. I'll take the consequences. If he's not dead, he'd better stop playing possum pretty damn quick and get his goddamn car out of the driveway.'
My brother abruptly turned and headed up the path to the side door. Mary and I followed. Inside the house, he went directly to the telephone in his office, called the Cairn police. He calmly, without any hesitation, told whoever was on the other end of the line what had happened. When I noticed that Mary was no longer standing beside me, I went out of Garth's office, returned to the music room. Mary was standing at the open window, staring out into the night. I went to her, placed my hand gently on her back; her muscles were hard, knotted.
'So?' I said to my brother as he entered the room.
'Harry's coming over to check it out and take a statement.'
'Did you tell Harry he pulled a knife on you?' I asked, glancing over to the spot on the floor beside the recliner where the butterfly knife had fallen. 'I did.'
Now there was a long, uncomfortable silence. Both Garth and I glanced over at Mary, who, for the first time since I had known her, looked all of her forty-five years of age, even older. She still seemed afraid, but in addition now appeared confused, as if she could not quite come to grips with what had happened-whatever that might be. The visit of her decidedly strange friend had apparently ended in tragedy. I wanted to go to her, to find words to bridge the gap that had suddenly opened between her and my brother and me, but did not feel it was my place.
'I'm going back to the city now,' I said to Garth. 'I'll take Vicky with me; I think it's better that she be gone before Harry gets here and starts asking questions. She could wake up, and I don't think she needs to hear any of this.'
'Agreed,' Garth replied simply.
'Please don't go, Mongo,' Mary said in a small voice. 'Not. . yet. I want to explain.' She paused, looked at Garth. 'With Sacra Silver, I just don't know where to begin.'
I went over to the woman, took her hands in mine, kissed them. 'You don't have to explain anything to me, Mary. I'm not the one who needs to understand. Aside from the fact that I don't want Vicky to know about any of this, it's really not my place to be here now. This is between you and Garth. I hope you understand.'
Mary did not reply. When I let go of her hands, they dropped limply to her sides. I went to the guest room, quickly packed my clothes into my duffel bag. When I came out, Garth was waiting for me in the hallway. He had wrapped the sleeping girl in a blanket and was holding her in his arms. It was a wonderful picture. I felt awful.
'You've got enough clothes for her at the brownstone?' Garth asked.
'Yeah.'
My brother carried Vicky out of the house, to the car, and gently laid her on the backseat. Garth now looked withdrawn, deeply troubled.
'I'm doing the right thing, aren't I, Garth? I'll stick around if you think it would help.'
Garth shook his head. 'No. You were absolutely right when you told Mary I'm the one she has to talk to. If Harry needs a statement from you, I'll have him call you in an hour or so.'
'Tow call me if you need anything.'
'Yeah.'
'Good luck, Garth.'
'Yeah.'
As I pulled around the green Cadillac and out of the driveway, I could see Garth standing in a patch of bright moonlight, staring after me. Then the moon passed behind a cloud, and he was shrouded in darkness. I headed for the Palisades Parkway, and New York City.
Chapter Three
Garth showed up at the brown-stone on West Fifty-sixth Street three days later, a Wednesday morning. I was in my office on the first floor going over a file in preparation for a lunch meeting with a client, with Vicky sitting next to me on the floor, reading a book. The door opened, and Garth leaned in. He was carrying a large suitcase.
Garth said simply, 'I'm back, Mongo.'
'Garth!' Vicky shrieked with delight when she saw my brother. She put her book to one side, jumped up, and ran to him with outstretched arms. 'Are you going to take me back to your house?'
'Nope,' Garth replied as he swept up the child with his free hand. 'I'm going to stay with you and Mongo here in the city for a while. Want to help me unpack?'
Vicky nodded eagerly, and Garth said to me, 'See you later, brother,' before turning away, closing the door behind him.
I waited ten minutes, impatiently drumming my fingers on the top of my desk, and then I got up and went into the adjoining office to give some instructions to Francisco Gonzalez, my secretary. Then I went upstairs to Garth's apartment on the fifth floor. I found him and Vicky in the bedroom, unpacking his suitcase.
'Vicky,' I said to the girl, 'Francisco knows how you like to work with his computer, and he wants to give you another lesson. But you have to go down right now, while he has the time.'
The child gave a little squeal of delight. She ran to the door, then suddenly stopped and looked back, a pensive expression on her face. 'Is it all right, Garth? I said I'd help you unpack.'
Garth nodded. 'It's all right, sweetheart. I'm almost finished. Go ahead.'
I waited until I heard Vicky's footsteps recede down the stairway, then went and closed the bedroom door. Garth resumed unpacking his suitcase, transferring shorts and handkerchiefs to the top drawer of his dresser. It
