Where Are the Children? (25 page)

Michael was talking to a gently questioning Lendon -telling all about it, thinking it out. His voice, at first excitable and rapid, was calmer now, even a little boastful: '. . . and I didn't want to go away from that house without Missy when the nice man started fighting with the other man and yelled at me to get help. So 1 ran back up to Missy and called Mommy on the phone. But then the phone stopped working. And I tried to carry Missy down the stairs, but the bad man came . . .'

Ray's arms were around him. 'Good boy. You're quite a guy, Mike.' Ray couldn't keep his eyes off Nancy and Missy. Nancy's face was discoloured and bruised, but so serenely beautiful that he had trouble swallowing over the lump in his throat.

Chief Coffin put down his coffee cup and reviewed the statement that he would make to the press: Professor Carl Harmon, alias Courtney Parrish, was pulled out of the water still alive. Before he died, he was able to make a statement, confessing his sole guilt in the murder of his children, Lisa and Peter, seven years ago. He also admitted that he was responsible for the death of Nancy Eldredge's mother. Realizing that she would have prevented his marriage to Nancy, he jammed the steering mechanism of her car while she was in the restaurant with Nancy. Mr John Kragopoulos, whom Professor Harmon assaulted today, is on the serious list in Cape Cod Hospital with a concussion, but is expected to recover. The Eldredge children have been examined and were not sexually molested, although the boy, Michael, suffered a bruise on the side of the face from a violent slap.'

The Chief felt fatigue settling into the very marrow of his bones. He'd give the statement and get home himself. Delia would be waiting for him, wanting to know every-thing about what had happened. This, he reflected, was the kind of day that made police work worthwhile. There was so much grief in this job. There were the times when you had to tell parents that their child was dead. Moments like the one in The Lookout when they knew they had found both kids safe were to be cherished.

Tomorrow. Jed reflected that tomorrow he would have to judge his own culpability. This morning he had prejudged Nancy because of pique that he hadn't recognized her. By prejudging her, he hadn't let his mind stay open; had ignored what Jonathan and Ray and the doctor and Nancy herself were telling him.

But at least he had driven the car that got Ray to the balcony on the roof of The Lookout in that split second of time. No one else could have got up that hill on that ice so fast. When they'd seen Nancy's car crashed into the tree at the bend of the road, Ray had wanted to stop. But Jed had kept going. Some instinct made him feel that Nancy had got out of the car and was in the house. His hunch had been right. For that he could defend himself.

Dorothy quietly refilled Lendon's cup at his affirmative nod. Michael would be all right, Lendon thought. He'd come down and see them again soon. He'd talk to the children and to Nancy - try to help her to completely see the past for what it was and then turn her back on it. Nancy wouldn't need too much help. It was a miracle that she'd had the toughness to survive the horror of everything that had happened to her. But she was a strong person and would emerge from this last ordeal, able to look forward to a normal life.

There was peace in Lendon. He had compensated at last for his neglect. If he had gone to Nancy when Priscilla died, so much could have been avoided. He would have realized there was something Wrong with Carl Harmon and somehow got her away from him. But then she wouldn't be here now with this young man who was her husband. These children would not be in her arms.

Lendon realized how much he wanted now to get home to Allison.

'Coffee?' Jonathan repeated Dorothy's question. 'Yes, thank you. I don't usually have any this late, but I don't think many of us will have trouble sleeping tonight.' He studied Dorothy closely. 'How about you? You must be pretty tired."

He watched as an indefinable sadness crept over her face and understood the reason for it. 'I think I must tell you,' he said firmly, 'that any kind of self-recrimination you have is intolerable. We all ignored facts today in a way that might have contributed to disaster. One of the first of these is that every single morning as I walked past this house, I have been annoyed by the glint that hit my eyes. This very morning I considered asking Ray to speak to the tenant at The Lookout about whatever he had in the window. With my legal training, I should have remembered that. An investigation would have led us to The Lookout very quickly.

'And one irrevocable fact is that if you had not elected to keep that appointment and bring Mr Kragopoulos to that house, Carl Harmon would not have been deterred in his evil intent. He would not have had his attention distracted from Missy. Surely you've been listening to Michael's description of what was happening before your call.'

Dorothy listened, considered, and in basic honesty agreed. A weight of guilt and remorse dissolved, and she felt suddenly lighthearted and glad, able to rejoice fully in the reunion. 'Thank you, Jonathan,' she said simply. 'I did need to hear that.'

Unconsciously, she clasped his arm. Consciously, he covered her hand with his own. 'The roads are still treacherous,' he said. 'When you're ready to go home, I'd feel better if I drove you.'

It is over, Nancy thought. It is over. Her arms tightened around her sleeping child. Missy stirred, murmured 'Mommy,' and slipped back into even, soft breathing.

Nancy looked at Michael. He was leaning back against Ray. Nancy watched as Ray gently pulled him down oh his lap. 'You're getting tired, fellow,' Ray said. '1 think maybe you kids had better get to bed. It's been quite a day.'

Nancy remembered the feeling when those strong arms had grabbed her, held her, kept her and Missy from falling. It would always be like that with Ray. She would always be safe. And today she'd seen and known and been in time.

From the wellspring of her being, prayer permeated her mind and heart: Thank You, thank You, thank You. You have delivered us from evil.

She realized that the sleet was no longer pelting the windows, that the moaning sound of the wind had died.

'Mommy,' Michael said, and now his voice was sleepy. 'We didn't even have a birthday party for you, and I didn't get you your present.'

'Don't worry, Mike,' Ray said. 'We'll celebrate Mommy's birthday tomorrow, and I know just the presents to get for her.' Miraculously, the strain and fatigue left his expression, and Nancy saw a twinkle begin in his eye. He looked directly at her. 'I'll even tell you what they are, honey,' he volunteered. 'Art lessons from a really good teacher from the kids and a colour job at the beauty parlour from me.'