Dear Irene

“Irene Kelly with the Las Piernas News Express. I was wondering if I could arrange to talk to Mrs. Davis.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. Look lady, Mrs. Davis is a vacant lot, if you know what I mean. These old birds in here can’t hold a conversation, unless you count being asked the same question ninety times an hour a conversation. Old Mrs. Davis doesn’t even know who she is. She doesn’t recognize her own son. And she doesn’t hear so good, either. So no way is she going to talk to some newspaper reporter.”

There was a click. “Thank you so very much,” I said to the dial tone.

“STORM DAMAGE” WAS likely to bump the Thanatos stories out of the lead position on A-1 by the time I was signing off the computer for the day. We had been getting calls on accidents, a roof collapsing, and road closures. Flood control cha

As evening fell, I decided I’d better hurry up and get over to the hospital to see Steven. I wanted to get home to Bea, also. I felt a twinge of guilt about leaving her alone.

I was packing up when Mark Baker hurried over. “Guess what! They’ve taken Don Edgerton in for questioning.”

“Why?”

“They asked around at the sporting goods stores. Figured the clerks might remember someone older buying a slingshot. Turns out one clerk remembered him.”

“A clerk knew him by name?”

“No. He just remembered that he sold a slingshot to a customer of his who also bought a lot of archery equipment. The detectives remembered that Edgerton taught archery at the college. They brought out a set of photos and the clerk pointed to Edgerton in nothing flat. They got search warrants for his house and office. Guess what they found in his desk drawer at the school?”

“The hammer that killed Edna Blaylock?”

“No. One of those synthesizers for disguising a voice over the phone.”

“Good Lord.” I sat down again, trembling. But as I thought about what he had said, something puzzled me. “Why would Edgerton keep those things in an office? Why not at home, where he has two Dobermans to stand watch?”

“I don’t know. Could be he doesn’t think the house is all that secure, even with the dogs. But his office at the college is very secure. And it has one of those special electronic locks on it.”

Pete had told me about the electronic locks on the campus. It occurred to me that I had seen that type of lock several times in recent days.

“He’s got all kinds of sports equipment stored there,” Mark went on, “including a lot of his own personal equipment.”

“Wait a minute! Now that you mention it, I realize we never saw bows and arrows or fencing gear at his house. Just the photos and the computer.” I shuddered. “Maybe that’s what he was doing with the computer – wiping out some records at Mercury that would have told us more.”

“Maybe. But we didn’t see the whole house. Besides, the damning evidence is the slingshot and the synthesizer, not the computer. Lots of people have access to a computer. Even Howard Parker, right?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Don Edgerton. That sonofabitch. When I think of what he’s done…” I drew a deep breath and tried to calm down. “So now the problem is finding the link. The why.”

“I’m going down to police headquarters and see if they’ll let me talk to him. Want to come along?”

The phone rang before I could answer his question.

“Kelly,” I answered.

“Cassandra.”

Mark took one look at my face and picked up the extension. I couldn’t make myself answer. I couldn’t even see the room. All I could see was Steven Kincaid’s bleeding face.

“Why so quiet, my love?” the voice said. “Surely Hyacinthus didn’t mean so much to you?”

I tried to will my own voice to be steady and calm. “You’re blowing it, Thanatos. You’re either screwing up an effort to pin something on someone else or you’re wasting your phone call from jail-”

He laughed. “Believe me, I’m not calling from jail. I just needed to keep your friends busy for a while.”

“You screwed up anyway. You missed with Icarus. And you didn’t do such a great job on Hyacinthus, either. He isn’t dead.”

“Not yet.”

I felt a white-hot fury rising in me. “You’re going to be the first to go. I swear you will.”

“Not likely. I say Kincaid, Harriman, and then – well, who knows?”

“I’m Cassandra, remember? And I say it’s going to be you. You’re getting sloppy. You’re forcing it now – going to extremes – like this business with the Mercury computers.” I glanced over at Mark, who was frantically shaking his head at me.

“That was not at all difficult for me,” Thanatos said. “Keep that in mind.”

“Like I said, I’m Cassandra. It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. It will happen. You’re next.”

He laughed, then stopped suddenly. When he spoke, his voice was menacing. “You disappoint me.”

“Pauline would have been disappointed in you, Jimmy.”

“You-” he hissed angrily. “You’re no better than the others!” He hung up.

Mark Baker looked like he was in shock. “Do you think that was wise?”

I was shaking. “No, it wasn’t.”

He came over and put a hand on my shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry. You’ve had a lot to cope with lately.”

I didn’t say anything.

“We better call Harriman.”

I still didn’t say anything, so he dialed the number and asked for Frank. I sat and listened while he told Frank about the conversation. Mark was quiet on his end for a while, then said, “Look, Frank-” but was apparently interrupted. He reluctantly handed the phone to me. “He wants to talk to you.”

I took it from him. “Yeah?”

“Irene? What the hell has gotten into you? Goddamn it, do you think you’re invincible? You drive me nuts when you pull shit like this!”

“Good-bye, Frank. Call me back when you cool off.” I hung up. Mark looked like he was going to be ill. “Frank and I will be fine, Mark. It happens all the time.”

He didn’t look convinced. My phone started ringing again. I didn’t want to talk to Thanatos or anyone else. It was probably Frank, but I knew he hadn’t had enough time to get back under control yet. I ignored it and left. I needed some air.

ST. ANNE’S IS a short walk from the paper, but I got soaked anyway. I didn’t have any trouble getting past the guard at Steven’s door. When I came in, Steven was sleeping. He roused himself a little, looked at me, and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hello. How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

He had a smaller bandage on now, and his forehead had a large, dark bruise on it. The edges of stitches showed, making me wince.

“Irene? Would you call my parents?”

“Sure. You want me to call them now?”

“If you wouldn’t mind. Maybe you could do most of the talking. Don’t scare them, okay?” He was still pretty out of it, but apparently this had been troubling him. I reassured him and dialed the number he gave me.

“What are their names?” I asked as it rang.

“Mike and Margaret Kincaid.”

A man answered the phone. I explained that I was one of Steven’s friends and that I was calling at his request. “Steven has suffered a head injury. He wants me to assure you that he’s okay, but he’s in the hospital recovering. He wants to talk to you to let you know that he’s all right.”

“The hospital?” There was a second of silence, and then he yelled, “Maggie! Pick up the extension! Excuse me, Miss-?”

“Kelly.”

“Miss Kelly.” There was a click of the other phone being picked up. “Miss Kelly, would you please repeat that for Steven’s mother?”