he said, âWell, I broke down.â
âThe car?â
âNo, no. I told the Shusters that Jimmy Stewart had been told Mary had visited Fred during the days he was missing but that this had been disproved.â
Phil told Greg the story of Santander. âHe said it was Fredâs girl but when shown a photograph of Mary Shuster said she wasnât the woman.â
âSo who was?â Greg asked.
But all three of them were thinking the same thing, despite the profession of love that Fred had made in his last poem.
Part Three
Can You Forgive Her?
1
THOSE PERSONALLY CONCERNED with a death said not to be due to natural causes must see it as the single most important event, the cynosure of every prurient eye, the topic of every whispering and doubtless malevolent lip. Of course this is not so, but the Nevilles, as the significance of what the police told them about their sonâs death sank in, knew a sadness deeper than grief. Had Fred destroyed himself? Detective Jimmy Stewart was noncommittal.
âHave you any reason to think he would have done that?â
âNone.â Mrs. Neville was the default speaker for the couple. âHe loved his job, he loved being here at Notre Dame.â
âAnd he was engaged to Naomi McTear.â
Mrs. Neville looked away. âYes.â
âSo you must know her rather well.â
âOh, not at all. Once she came by our place in Phoenix, when she was passing through, to introduce herself and tell us about her and Fred.â
âIs that how you learned of the engagement?â
âThis was shortly afterward, apparently.â
âThose are lovely rings,â Stewart said.
Mrs. Neville held out her hands as if for inspection.
âWhat is that diamond?â
âMy engagement ring.â She cast a loving glance at her husband, who seemed mildly sedated.
âBut I thought Fred gave your engagement ring to Naomi.â
âMy engagement ring? Certainly not. My rings will go with me to the grave.â
âHmmm.â
âWhy would you think such a thing?â
âI must have misunderstood.â
âIs that what she said?â Mr. Neville asked.
âAs I say, I must have misunderstood.â
âSurely Fred couldnât have told her that.â
Stewart asked if they would like to go through their sonâs apartment.
âI thought it was sealed off.â
âI can let you in.â
But Mr. Neville shook his head. âNot yet.â
âHow long will you be staying?â
âUntil we know what happened to Fred.â
Â
It is always cruel when parents lose a child, but when the parents are elderly and the child an adult, it is in its way more difficult rather than less. The Nevilles were clearly in the last act of their lives, knew that and accepted it, and could not have dreamt that Fred would die before them. Suicide seemed more and more unlikely, and Stewart wished he could assure the Nevilles that it was impossible that their son had taken his own life. He hoped to be able to give them that assurance today. Roger Knight had asked the obvious question.
âDid you find the poison in the apartment?â
âOnly in the cup from which he had been drinking.â
Â
Stewart had arranged to meet the Knights at Fredâs apartment after this call on the Nevilles. He was allowed to continue working on Fred Nevilleâs death only because of the departmentâs concern to keep the matter as much under wraps as possible. The fact that Phil was working with him, courtesy of the university, justified assigning only Stewart to the case, and that lessened the drain on departmental resources. Even so, the media people, who had lavishly covered the funeral, largely because of the presence of coaches and players, and then subsided, had now, in the person of Laura Reith, shown renewed interest.
âWhatâs up?â she had asked, sailing into Stewartâs office in
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