Quinlan said mildly, “The medical examiner said she’d been strangled. Evidently whoever killed her didn’t count on her body washing back up to land. More than that, whoever killed her didn’t even consider that if she did wash up there would be anyone around down there to find her. The walk down that path is rather perilous.”
“You saying that we’re too rickety to walk down that path, Mr. Quinlan?”
“Well, it’s a possibility, isn’t it? You’re certain none of you heard her scream during the night? Cry out? Call for help? Anything that wasn’t just a regular night sound?”
“It was around two o’clock in the morning,” Sally said.
“Look, Miz Sally,” Ralph Keaton said, rising now, “we all know you’re all upset about leaving your husband, but that don’t matter. We all know you came here to rest, to get your bearings again. But you know, that kind of thing can have some pretty big effects on a young lady like yourself, like screwing up how you see things, how you hear things.”
“I didn’t imagine it, Mr. Keaton. I would think that I had if Mr. Quinlan and I hadn’t found the woman’s body the very next day.”
“There is that,” Purn Davies said. “Could be a coincidence. You havin’ a dream because of you leaving your husband-that’s what Amabel told us-or hearing the wind howling, and the woman jumping off that cliff. Yeah, all a coincidence.”
Quinlan knew there was nothing more to be gained. They’d all dug in their heels. Both he and Sally were outsiders. They weren’t welcome, just tolerated, barely. He thought it was interesting that Amabel Perdy seemed to have enough control over the townspeople so none of them had revealed to the cops that Sally was here, no matter how much she was obviously upsetting them. He prayed that Amabel’s hold on them would last. Maybe he should tone things down, just to be on the safe side. “Mr. Davies is right, Sally,” Quinlan said easily. “Who knows? We sure don’t. But, you know, I just wish you’d remember something about Harve and Marge Jensen.”
Hunker Dawson turned so fast he fell off his chair. There was pandemonium for a minute. Quinlan was beside him in an instant, making sure that he hadn’t hurt himself. “I’m a clumsy old geek,” Hunker said, as Quinlan carefully helped him to his feet.
“What the hell happened to you?” Ralph Keaton shouted at him, all red in the face.
“I’m a clumsy old geek,” Hunker said again. “I wish Arlene were still alive. She’d massage me and make me some chicken soup. My shoulder hurts.”
Quinlan patted his arm. “Sally and I will drop by Doc Spiver’s house and tell him to come over here, all right? Take two aspirin. He shouldn’t be long.”
“Naw, don’t do that,” Ralph Keaton said. “No problem. Hunker here is just whining.”
“It’s no problem,” Sally said. “We were going to walk by his house anyway.”
“Well, all right, then,” Hunker said and let his friends lower him back into his chair. He was rubbing his shoulder.
“Yes, we’ll get Doc Spiver,” Quinlan said. He shook open the umbrella and escorted Sally out of the general store. He paused when he heard the old men talking quietly. He heard Purn Davies say, “Why the hell shouldn’t they go to Doc’s house? You got a problem with that, Ralph? Hunker doesn’t, and he’s right. Listen to me, it don’t matter.”
“Yeah,” Gus Eisner said. “I don’t think Hunker could make it over there, now could he?”
“Probably wouldn’t be smart,” Purn Davies said slowly. “No, let Quinlan and Sally go. Yeah, that’s best.”
The rain had become a miserable drizzle, chilling them to the bone. He said, “None of them is a very good liar. I wonder what all that talk of theirs meant?”
All that he was implying blossomed in her mind, and she felt more than the chill, damp air engulfing her. “I can’t believe what you’re suggesting, James.”
He shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget it, Sally.”
She couldn’t, of course. “They’re old. If they do remember the Jensens, it’s just that they’re afraid to admit it. As for the other, it was harmless.”