Kate looked at him a long moment. Then she said, slowly, “All the evidence you have is circumstantial, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He was ready to move in for the kill. “I need concrete evidence for the coroner’s inquest. You know your granddaughter better than anyone in the world, Mrs. Blackwell. I want you to tell me anything you can that might be helpful.”
She sat there quietly, making up her mind. Finally she said, “I think I can give you some information for the inquest.”
And Nick Pappas’s heart began to beat faster. He had taken a long shot, and it had paid off. The old lady had come through. He unconsciously leaned forward. “Yes, Mrs. Blackwell?”
Kate spoke slowly and distinctly. “On the day George Mellis was murdered, Lieutenant, my granddaughter Eve and I were in Washington, D.C., together.”
She saw the surprised expression on his face. You fool, Kate Blackwell thought. Did you really think I would offer up a Black-well as a sacrifice to you? That I would let the press have a Roman holiday with the Blackwell name? No. I will punish Eve in my own way.
The verdict from the coroner’s jury was death at the hands of an unknown assailant or assailants.
To Alexandra’s surprise and gratitude, Peter Templeton was at the inquest at the county courthouse.
“Just here to lend moral support,” he told her. Peter thought Alexandra was holding up remarkably well, but the strain showed in her face and in her eyes. During a recess, he took her to lunch at the Lobster Pound, a little restaurant facing the bay in Lincolnville.
“When this is over,” Peter said, “I think it would be good for you to take a trip, get away for a while.”
“Yes. Eve has asked me to go away with her.” Alexandra’s eyes were filled with pain. “I still can’t believe George is dead. I know it has happened, but it—it still seems unreal.”
“It’s nature’s way of cushioning the shock until the pain becomes bearable.”
“It’s so senseless. He was such a fine man.” She looked up at Peter. “You spent time with him. He talked to you. Wasn’t he a wonderful person?”
“Yes,” Peter said slowly. “Yes, he was.”
Eve said, “I want an annulment, Keith.”
Keith Webster blinked at his wife in surprise. “Why on earth would you want an annulment?”
“Oh, come on, Keith. You didn’t really think I was going to stay married to you, did you?”
“Of course. You’re my wife, Eve.”
“What are you after? The Blackwell money?”
“I don’t need money, darling. I make an excellent living. I can give you anything you want.”
“I told you what I want. An annulment.”
He shook his head regretfully. “I’m afraid I can’t give you that.”
“Then I’m going to file for divorce.”
“I don’t think that would be advisable. You see, nothing has really changed, Eve. The police haven’t found out who killed your brother-in-law, so the case is still open. There’s no statute of limitations on murder. If you divorced me, I’d be forced to…” He raised his hands helplessly.
“You’re talking as though I killed him.”
“You did, Eve.”
Her voice was scornful. “How the hell do you know?”
“It’s the only reason you would have married me.”
She looked at him, filled with loathing. “You bastard! How can you do this to me?”
“It’s very simple. I love you.”
“I hate you. Do you understand that? I despise you!”
He smiled sadly. “I love you so much.”
The trip with Alexandra was called off. “I’m going to Barbados on my honeymoon,” Eve told her.
Barbados was Keith’s idea.
“I won’t go,” Eve told him flatly. The idea of a honeymoon with him was disgusting.
“It will look strange if we don’t have a honeymoon,” he said shyly. “And we don’t want people asking a lot of awkward questions, do we, dear?”
Alexandra began to see Peter Templeton for lunch once a week. In the beginning, it was because she wanted to talk about George, and there was no one else she could discuss him with. But after several months, Alexandra admitted to herself that she enjoyed Peter Templeton’s company immensely. There was a dependability about him that she desperately needed. He was sensitive to her moods, and he was intelligent and entertaining.