level. Sheep and dogs and wild animals could go right under it. A cow or deer couldn’t, but they’d leave tracks. Well, the morning after Sandy’s murder, the thread was broken. I found footprints, not sharp to identify, but obviously a man’s. There were signs that he’d stretched full length and rested his elbows on the ground as though holding binoculars—”
“Why?”
“The marks were side by side. If he’d been holding a rifle, one elbow would have been behind the other, like this.” He rolled onto his stomach and demonstrated. I felt a chill, remembering the flash on the hill while Marty and I … If only someone had investigated, before the passage of so many years….
“How did that involve Gil?” I asked.
“Well … I’d noticed that Gil carried binoculars in his car. He said they were for girl-watching on Lake Pillybay, which sounded reasonable—”
“Considering Gil’s character,” I said dryly.
“Yes, but I wanted to check. So I searched his house; I was looking for some … relic which would show he’d had something to do with these girls. That’s a weird old house, you know—thirty-eight rooms, and I barely got started. There’s something in every room, going all the way back to his great-grandfather. It was like taking an inventory of the Smithsonian in a single afternoon. I didn’t find anything, but I’d like to finish; I’d like to clear him of suspicion—”
“Why?”
“I like him.”
“I don’t.”
He smiled at me. “Since you heard about Bernice?”
“Maybe.”
“He also had a few brief sessions with Anne and Sandy. He made no secret of it with me.”
My face burned. “The more I learn about him, the more I realize our friendship was a mistake.”
“You’re jealous.”
“I don’t think so. Disappointed …”
He laughed. “Velda, you give a man friendship and you expect it to fulfill all his desires.”
“It’s enough for me.”
“It’s a different situation. Think what would happen if the reproduction of the race depended on women. How often do they take the initiative?” He shook his head. “Anyway, you don’t understand a man’s approach. All the time Gil was talking to you about books and philosophy and everything else, he was looking at you and wondering how you’d be in bed, trying to figure out a way to get you there….”
I looked at him and wondered if he was doing the same, but I didn’t say it. I said: “You don’t believe that. Otherwise you wouldn’t have left Gaby there alone with him.”
“Gaby’s trained. She knows all the approaches. Anyway she had her own game going; she had to keep him occupied until I got back from searching his house. She couldn’t submit, because that would have used up her ace in the hole.”
I stared at him in amazement. “You’re
really
throwing in all you’ve got, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean … if Gil is the killer, you’re risking Gaby’s life.”
“She has a gun. She knows how to use it.”
“She wasn’t wearing it yesterday with him, not concealed under her halter and shorts.”
He frowned. “I’ll tell her to be more careful. But even if Gil was the one who watched the house, he could be a simple garden-variety Peeping Tom. He’s taken with Gaby; obviously, since she’s a woman. We didn’t have curtains up then, and Gaby was sprinting across in front of the windows in the altogether….”
I felt a prickly embarrassment hearing Curt talk of his wife. For a moment I saw them in the intimacy of their home, doing what husbands and wives do, what Lou and I do on occasion. But was it embarrassment, or jealousy, the kind I’d felt about Gil? What did I want, for every man in the county to worship me from afar and be true? A high school attitude, Velda….
I said, apropos of nothing: “Lou was home when Sandy was killed.” He looked at me sharply. “What made you say that?”
“Just … in case you suspect him.”
“I suspect
“Why?”
“The marks were side by side. If he’d been holding a rifle, one elbow would have been behind the other, like this.” He rolled onto his stomach and demonstrated. I felt a chill, remembering the flash on the hill while Marty and I … If only someone had investigated, before the passage of so many years….
“How did that involve Gil?” I asked.
“Well … I’d noticed that Gil carried binoculars in his car. He said they were for girl-watching on Lake Pillybay, which sounded reasonable—”
“Considering Gil’s character,” I said dryly.
“Yes, but I wanted to check. So I searched his house; I was looking for some … relic which would show he’d had something to do with these girls. That’s a weird old house, you know—thirty-eight rooms, and I barely got started. There’s something in every room, going all the way back to his great-grandfather. It was like taking an inventory of the Smithsonian in a single afternoon. I didn’t find anything, but I’d like to finish; I’d like to clear him of suspicion—”
“Why?”
“I like him.”
“I don’t.”
He smiled at me. “Since you heard about Bernice?”
“Maybe.”
“He also had a few brief sessions with Anne and Sandy. He made no secret of it with me.”
My face burned. “The more I learn about him, the more I realize our friendship was a mistake.”
“You’re jealous.”
“I don’t think so. Disappointed …”
He laughed. “Velda, you give a man friendship and you expect it to fulfill all his desires.”
“It’s enough for me.”
“It’s a different situation. Think what would happen if the reproduction of the race depended on women. How often do they take the initiative?” He shook his head. “Anyway, you don’t understand a man’s approach. All the time Gil was talking to you about books and philosophy and everything else, he was looking at you and wondering how you’d be in bed, trying to figure out a way to get you there….”
I looked at him and wondered if he was doing the same, but I didn’t say it. I said: “You don’t believe that. Otherwise you wouldn’t have left Gaby there alone with him.”
“Gaby’s trained. She knows all the approaches. Anyway she had her own game going; she had to keep him occupied until I got back from searching his house. She couldn’t submit, because that would have used up her ace in the hole.”
I stared at him in amazement. “You’re
really
throwing in all you’ve got, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean … if Gil is the killer, you’re risking Gaby’s life.”
“She has a gun. She knows how to use it.”
“She wasn’t wearing it yesterday with him, not concealed under her halter and shorts.”
He frowned. “I’ll tell her to be more careful. But even if Gil was the one who watched the house, he could be a simple garden-variety Peeping Tom. He’s taken with Gaby; obviously, since she’s a woman. We didn’t have curtains up then, and Gaby was sprinting across in front of the windows in the altogether….”
I felt a prickly embarrassment hearing Curt talk of his wife. For a moment I saw them in the intimacy of their home, doing what husbands and wives do, what Lou and I do on occasion. But was it embarrassment, or jealousy, the kind I’d felt about Gil? What did I want, for every man in the county to worship me from afar and be true? A high school attitude, Velda….
I said, apropos of nothing: “Lou was home when Sandy was killed.” He looked at me sharply. “What made you say that?”
“Just … in case you suspect him.”
“I suspect
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