[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Claire? Looks harmless enough."
But Claire's face was contorted, and she refused to touch it. MacLaren
touched the "play" button. The room was suddenly filled with hideous
sounds: squeaks, rustlings, odd scraping and scratching, ugly small
yelpings. MacLaren frowned.
"Have I been wrong all along?" he asked himself. "Is the old woman
just a victim, then& maybe a hostage for Jamie's good behavior?
Barbara, is your mother-in-law particularly afraid of rats!"
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Barbara said, with an indrawn breath, "No, but funny you should
mention it. It's Jamie's one real phobia; in a prison camp in Korea he
had some kind of awful experience with them. We went to some
harmless movie about crime on the waterfront once, and in the movie
the detective and his girl went down into the hold of a ship, and there
were rats hi it. Jamie got up and almost ran out of the theatre. He was
white as a sheet and I thought he was going to faint."
"So it's for softening him up," MacLaren said softly. He put the tape
machine down and frowned at it. He said, "Claire, does anything
strange strike you? It's Barbara who turns out to need our help, and
yet this very same week& "
She nodded. "There couldn't be two melodramas of that kind
connected with one household; they've got to be connected somehow.
But what's the missing link?"
MacLaren picked up the tape machine between his hands again,
deposited it in the middle of Mrs. Melford's narrow bed, and dusted
his hands off. He said quietly, "I feel dirty after touching that. God
forbid I should judge any man or woman sight unseen, but it looks as
if she was simultaneously trying to poison her daughter-in-law or at
least break her health down and terrify her son. But why? Why?
What's the missing link?"
Barbara said harshly, "I can believe Mother Mel-ford would try to to
drug me. But I can't believe she'd hurt Jamie, I simply can't!"
"It seems unlikely, and yet& and yet no, there's a link that still
eludes me," MacLaren said. Abruptly, Ms voice tense, he said, "Let's
get out of this room. It makes me feel a little sick. Do you feel it,
Claire?"
Claire said low, her eyes half closed, "Yes. Madness, and hate. Fear.
Love turned sick, twisted. And something else, something else&
someone else, another woman here. A sickness in both of them. I I
think I'm going to be sick," she concluded suddenly and bolted out of
the room, dashing unceremoniously to the door of the bathroom.
MacLaren guided Barbara gently to the door and thrust her outside.
He drew a piece of chalk from his pocket when the door was shut and,
murmuring some quiet words to himself, chalked up a carefully
drawn sign in the center of the door. It was almost invisible against
the white paint. Seeing Barbara watching, he said quietly, "A
pentagram. It may keep the evil in that room from affecting us out
here, and it may make it harder for her to get in again. If she walks in
on us, she may give herself away." He listened to the sounds of
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retching from the bathroom and shook his head ruefully. "Poor kid,
she hasn't learned to guard herself against that sort of thing yet."
"Are you trying, in all seriousness, to tell me that Jamie's mother is
is mixed up with all those horrible things Jock was trying to expose?"
Barbara demanded, but she really no longer doubted it. She realized,
suddenly, that she had known it, with some deep inner knowledge,
ever since she had found the obscene charm in her bed. She said
aloud, "I wonder if Jock knew?" and saw MacLaren's face catch a light.
"I don't know, Barbara, but it could very well be, and that could be the
missing link."
Claire carne out of the bathroom looking white and drained. She said
weakly, "Sorry, Colin, it just all hit me at once. I won't do it again."
"You'll learn," MacLaren said. "I hope you're all right, Claire. We've
made the diagnosis, but now for the treatment we haven't a clue
where these people are, what they're doing, where James Melford is,
or how much time we have. They've 'already killed one man we know
about, so there isn't any time to lose. Once they get a hint we're on
their trail, there's no telling what they'll do next."
"I'm all right now." Claire followed them into the living room. She
said, "Did you seal the bedroom door?"
"Yes, although with the lesser pentagram. I'm not sure it will hold
anyone out or in, but it might keep us from being affected by the
atmosphere in there," Colin said. "Get the suitcase open, will you?"
Barbara listened, irritated by the cryptic words. She said sharply,
"Why not simply call the police?"
"And tell them what? And ask them to do what, and where?" Colin
demanded, eyebrows raised. "That's the trouble: people of this sort
have one thing going for them, that normal people simply don't
believe any of it, not until they see it and sometimes not then. Can
you honestly see me calling the police and telling them that these
people, whoever they are but possibly including your mother-in-law
or some friend of hers, have killed one man with witchcraft and are
starting in on someone else, so will the police please lock them up
before they can get on with it?"
Barbara bit her lip. "Didn't you just tell me they were poisoning me? I
could swear out a complaint."
"Proof. There's a thing called proof," he said almost absentmindedly.
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Claire broke in. "Barbara's doctor can confirm
"Yes. We may come to that eventually, if everything else fails. But it's
a matter of time, you two. By the time we could get a warrant, and an
arrest, someone could be dead. Remember, they've already killed
Jock Cannon. And I'm not happy about Melford Jamie, that is
disappearing like this. They may suspect that we're onto them."
"How could they know when we didn't know ourselves till then?"
"The same way Claire found the tape recorder," MacLaren said. "No
coven worth the name is without a sensitive or two. They've come out
hi the open, laughing at Barbara on the telephone and disappearing
with Jamie. If they were still covering their tracks, they'd have bullied
him into leaving a note saying he was going to Westchester or San
Francisco, or Khatmandu on business or taking a client to lunch."
"Then what can we do?"
"God knows and I'm not being flippant; He knows but we haven't yet
been taken into His confidence. Claire, it seems to be up to you. I'm
sorry, after what that room did to you, but I'm simply not a good
enough clairvoyant, and I may have enough on my plate, as the British
say, before the night's over."
"I don't mind," Claire said. She snapped open the suitcase. "Good
thing I brought the crystal. I can use a bowl of water, but I'd hate to
have to look in any bowl that woman had been using!"
She took out something wrapped carefully in a square of black velvet
and unrolled it, disclosing an inner square of white silk. Inside that
was a small globe of glass or crystal.
"Barbara, love, can you get me a paper towel from the kitchen?"
Somewhat startled, Barbara obeyed. "But wouldn't you rather have a
dish towel?"
"God forbid," said Claire, taking the roll of paper toweling and
unwinding it slightly to tear off a clean square. "Who knows who's
been handling them or what they've been used for? .The invention of
paper towels and Kleenex was a great boon; this stuff was -packed at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Claire? Looks harmless enough."
But Claire's face was contorted, and she refused to touch it. MacLaren
touched the "play" button. The room was suddenly filled with hideous
sounds: squeaks, rustlings, odd scraping and scratching, ugly small
yelpings. MacLaren frowned.
"Have I been wrong all along?" he asked himself. "Is the old woman
just a victim, then& maybe a hostage for Jamie's good behavior?
Barbara, is your mother-in-law particularly afraid of rats!"
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
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r r
Barbara said, with an indrawn breath, "No, but funny you should
mention it. It's Jamie's one real phobia; in a prison camp in Korea he
had some kind of awful experience with them. We went to some
harmless movie about crime on the waterfront once, and in the movie
the detective and his girl went down into the hold of a ship, and there
were rats hi it. Jamie got up and almost ran out of the theatre. He was
white as a sheet and I thought he was going to faint."
"So it's for softening him up," MacLaren said softly. He put the tape
machine down and frowned at it. He said, "Claire, does anything
strange strike you? It's Barbara who turns out to need our help, and
yet this very same week& "
She nodded. "There couldn't be two melodramas of that kind
connected with one household; they've got to be connected somehow.
But what's the missing link?"
MacLaren picked up the tape machine between his hands again,
deposited it in the middle of Mrs. Melford's narrow bed, and dusted
his hands off. He said quietly, "I feel dirty after touching that. God
forbid I should judge any man or woman sight unseen, but it looks as
if she was simultaneously trying to poison her daughter-in-law or at
least break her health down and terrify her son. But why? Why?
What's the missing link?"
Barbara said harshly, "I can believe Mother Mel-ford would try to to
drug me. But I can't believe she'd hurt Jamie, I simply can't!"
"It seems unlikely, and yet& and yet no, there's a link that still
eludes me," MacLaren said. Abruptly, Ms voice tense, he said, "Let's
get out of this room. It makes me feel a little sick. Do you feel it,
Claire?"
Claire said low, her eyes half closed, "Yes. Madness, and hate. Fear.
Love turned sick, twisted. And something else, something else&
someone else, another woman here. A sickness in both of them. I I
think I'm going to be sick," she concluded suddenly and bolted out of
the room, dashing unceremoniously to the door of the bathroom.
MacLaren guided Barbara gently to the door and thrust her outside.
He drew a piece of chalk from his pocket when the door was shut and,
murmuring some quiet words to himself, chalked up a carefully
drawn sign in the center of the door. It was almost invisible against
the white paint. Seeing Barbara watching, he said quietly, "A
pentagram. It may keep the evil in that room from affecting us out
here, and it may make it harder for her to get in again. If she walks in
on us, she may give herself away." He listened to the sounds of
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
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c
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.
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r r
retching from the bathroom and shook his head ruefully. "Poor kid,
she hasn't learned to guard herself against that sort of thing yet."
"Are you trying, in all seriousness, to tell me that Jamie's mother is
is mixed up with all those horrible things Jock was trying to expose?"
Barbara demanded, but she really no longer doubted it. She realized,
suddenly, that she had known it, with some deep inner knowledge,
ever since she had found the obscene charm in her bed. She said
aloud, "I wonder if Jock knew?" and saw MacLaren's face catch a light.
"I don't know, Barbara, but it could very well be, and that could be the
missing link."
Claire carne out of the bathroom looking white and drained. She said
weakly, "Sorry, Colin, it just all hit me at once. I won't do it again."
"You'll learn," MacLaren said. "I hope you're all right, Claire. We've
made the diagnosis, but now for the treatment we haven't a clue
where these people are, what they're doing, where James Melford is,
or how much time we have. They've 'already killed one man we know
about, so there isn't any time to lose. Once they get a hint we're on
their trail, there's no telling what they'll do next."
"I'm all right now." Claire followed them into the living room. She
said, "Did you seal the bedroom door?"
"Yes, although with the lesser pentagram. I'm not sure it will hold
anyone out or in, but it might keep us from being affected by the
atmosphere in there," Colin said. "Get the suitcase open, will you?"
Barbara listened, irritated by the cryptic words. She said sharply,
"Why not simply call the police?"
"And tell them what? And ask them to do what, and where?" Colin
demanded, eyebrows raised. "That's the trouble: people of this sort
have one thing going for them, that normal people simply don't
believe any of it, not until they see it and sometimes not then. Can
you honestly see me calling the police and telling them that these
people, whoever they are but possibly including your mother-in-law
or some friend of hers, have killed one man with witchcraft and are
starting in on someone else, so will the police please lock them up
before they can get on with it?"
Barbara bit her lip. "Didn't you just tell me they were poisoning me? I
could swear out a complaint."
"Proof. There's a thing called proof," he said almost absentmindedly.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
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w
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c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
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r r
Claire broke in. "Barbara's doctor can confirm
"Yes. We may come to that eventually, if everything else fails. But it's
a matter of time, you two. By the time we could get a warrant, and an
arrest, someone could be dead. Remember, they've already killed
Jock Cannon. And I'm not happy about Melford Jamie, that is
disappearing like this. They may suspect that we're onto them."
"How could they know when we didn't know ourselves till then?"
"The same way Claire found the tape recorder," MacLaren said. "No
coven worth the name is without a sensitive or two. They've come out
hi the open, laughing at Barbara on the telephone and disappearing
with Jamie. If they were still covering their tracks, they'd have bullied
him into leaving a note saying he was going to Westchester or San
Francisco, or Khatmandu on business or taking a client to lunch."
"Then what can we do?"
"God knows and I'm not being flippant; He knows but we haven't yet
been taken into His confidence. Claire, it seems to be up to you. I'm
sorry, after what that room did to you, but I'm simply not a good
enough clairvoyant, and I may have enough on my plate, as the British
say, before the night's over."
"I don't mind," Claire said. She snapped open the suitcase. "Good
thing I brought the crystal. I can use a bowl of water, but I'd hate to
have to look in any bowl that woman had been using!"
She took out something wrapped carefully in a square of black velvet
and unrolled it, disclosing an inner square of white silk. Inside that
was a small globe of glass or crystal.
"Barbara, love, can you get me a paper towel from the kitchen?"
Somewhat startled, Barbara obeyed. "But wouldn't you rather have a
dish towel?"
"God forbid," said Claire, taking the roll of paper toweling and
unwinding it slightly to tear off a clean square. "Who knows who's
been handling them or what they've been used for? .The invention of
paper towels and Kleenex was a great boon; this stuff was -packed at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]