“These people are consorting with evil,” I said. “And I respect that there is evil in the world and it is not to be taken lightly. Where exactly in Eddings’ house did you find this God-awful book?” I asked Marino.
“Under his bed,” he said.
“Seriously.”
“I’m very serious.”
“And we’re certain Eddings lived alone?” I asked.
“Appears that way.”
“What about family?”
“Father’s deceased, a brother’s in Maine and the mother lives in Richmond. Real close to where you live, as a matter of fact.”
“You’ve talked to her?” I asked.
“I stopped by and told her the bad news and asked if we could conduct a more thorough search of her son’s house, which we’ll do tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch.
“Or I guess I should say today.”
Lucy got up and moved to the hearth. She propped an elbow on a knee and cupped her chin in her hand. Behind her, coals glowed in a deep bed of ashes.
“How do you know this bible originally came from the New Zionists?” she said.
“Seems to me all you know is it came from Shapiro, and how can we be sure where he got it?”
Marino said, “Shapiro was a New Zionist until just three months ago. I’ve heard that Hand isn’t real understanding when people want to leave him. Let me ask you something.
How many ex-New Zionists do you know?”
Lucy could not say. Certainly, I couldn’t either.
“He’s had followers for at least ten years. And we never hear anything about anyone leaving?” he went on. “How the hell do we know who he’s got buried on his farm?”
“How come I’ve never heard of him?” she wanted to know.
Marino got up to top off our champagne.
He said, “Because they don’t teach subjects like him at MIT and UVA.”
Chapter Five
At dawn, I lay in bed and looked out at Mant’s backyard. The snow was very deep and piled high on the wall, and beyond the dune the sun was polishing the sea. For a while I shut my eyes and thought of Benton Wesley. I wondered what he would say about where I was living now, and what we would say to each other when we met later this day. We had not spoken since the second week of December, when we had agreed that our relationship must end.
I turned to one side and pulled the covers up to my ears as I heard quiet footsteps.
Next I felt Lucy perch on the edge of my bed.
“Good morning, favorite niece in the world,” I mumbled.
“I’m your only niece in the world.” She said what she always did. “And how did you know it was me?”
“It had better be you. Someone else might get hurt.”
“I brought you coffee,” she said.
“You’re an angel.”
“Yo, to quote Marino. That’s what everybody says about me.”
“I was just trying to be nice.” I yawned.
She bent over to hug me, and I smelled the English soap I had placed in her bathroom.
I felt her strength and firmness, and I felt old.
“You make me feel like hell.” I rolled on my back, placing my hands behind my head.
“Why do you say that?” She wore a pair of my loose cotton flannel pajamas and looked puzzled.
“Because I don’t think I could even do the Yellow Brick Road anymore,” I said, referring to the Academy’s obstacle course.
“I’ve never heard anyone call it easy.”
“It is for you.”
She hesitated. “Well, it is now. But it’s not like you have to hang out with HRT.”
“For that I am thankful. She paused, then added with a sigh, “You know, at first I was pissed when the Academy decided to send me back to UVA for a month. But it may end up being a relief. I can work in the lab, ride my bike and jog around the campus like a normal person.”
Lucy was not a normal person, nor would she ever be. I had decided that in many sad ways, individuals with IQs as high as hers are as different from others as are the mentally impaired. She was gazing out the window and the snow was becoming bright. Her hair was rosegold in shy morning light, and I was amazed I could be related to anyone so beautiful.