Pam didn’t argue, but she must have known that his behavior was strange.Once more she tried to look back over her shoulder.When he wouldn’t allow it, she asked, “Is my mother home?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Is Daddy?”
“No.”
In a tone that was as unsteady as any he’d ever heard from her, she asked, “Do you know where they are?”
“I’m not sure.I’ll find out.”He quickened his step andhers along with it.Marcy was still at the door, too far away to see the car or its color or, mercifully, its contents.“Take her inside,” he ordered, then jogged back down the street.
He arrived in time to see Patricia’s broken body being put into an ambulance for a short, high-speed ride to the hospital.It was a while before Eugene was freed from the wreck.He too was put into an ambulance, but the ride was less rushed.He had died the instant the car hit the wall.
Chapter 9
New York, May 1990
Hillary glanced at Pam, who walked at a smart pace beside her along Fifth Avenue.Her hair was tucked up under a floppy hat, she wore a nondescript jersey and jumper, tights and ballet flats, and she carried a canvas bag withI LOVE NYstamped on its front.The effect was supposed to be tacky, but Hillary thought she looked adorable.Large dark glasses shielded her eyes, not so much from the glare of the sun as from recognition.She needed anonymity.They were on a spy mission, one of Pam’s infamous incognito adventures into the world of New York jewelers.It was the first they had taken since Brendan fell ill, and though Pam was hesitant about leaving him, she needed the day away.
Hillary had often accompanied her on these jaunts in the past, simply because Pam was her friend and sheenjoyed being with her.This time her motive was more pointed.
They had just left David Webb’s showroom on Fifty-seventh Street and were headed for Tiffany’s.Quite conveniently, Pam liked to talk while she was looking at what the competition had produced.She wanted to appear nonchalant, even a little disinterested.As fate would have it, coming in from the airport on this day she had passed the scene of an automobile accident, and while the particulars were different from the accident twenty-one years before, the blinking lights had stirred memories.They had talked of these memories through lunch at the Polo Lounge at the Westbury and now continued talking as they walked.
“I knew John had the germs of compassion in him,” Hillary commented after Pam had relived the details of those terrible days.
Pam shot her a dry look from behind the dark glasses.“No doubt they’ve all atrophied by now.But he was decent back then.I have to admit it.For about three days—between the time of the accident and the funeral—he was decent.He played the grieving son and the concerned brother.No doubt it was all for show.”
“Give credit where credit is due.”
“Okay.Three days.I’ll give him three days.”
“Generous,” Hillary remarked, but her thoughts were on something Pam had said in the course of another talk they’d had, two weeks before when Hillary had flown to Boston.“Speaking of generosity, what happened to Cutter’s bequest?He’s never said a word to me about it, and the more I think of it, the more odd that seems.When he first came to New York he had his life savings in a banknote in his pocket.He had no intention of ever returning to Timiny Cove.”
Pam didn’t answer.Hillary suspected that she was thinking back to the circumstances preceding Cutter’s arrival in New York.She was sure the memory brought pain.
But Hillary wanted to know about the bequest.“If he had owned Little Lincoln, he wouldn’t have been so down about things.That would have given him confidence—not to mention money.Little Lincoln was developed within a year after Eugene’s death.”She had learned that while moseying around in Timiny Cove the week before.
“He never got Little Lincoln.”
“Why not?”
They stopped at a light, pressed close together in the crowd waiting for it to change.Hillary felt Pam’s shrug.
“Why not?”she repeated.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“What’s your guess?”
The light changed.They moved on.“John changed the will.”
“He couldn’t do that.A will is a legal document.”
“More than one legal document has been tampered with.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
The look that came from beneath the floppy hat and dark glasses was facetious this time.