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might be better if we do it here.
I followed him into the library.  Library sounds impressive. It really isn t that pretentious. It s just a
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room with bookshelves and comfortable armchairs and a paneled area that opens to disclose a built-in
bar. Nick went straight to it, poured himself a scotch on the rocks, and, without asking, a glass of white
wine with a couple of ice cubes for me.
 This is what you had last week. I read somewhere that the Duchess of Windsor put ice in her
champagne, he said, as he handed me the glass.
 And I read that the Duke of Windsor liked his whiskey neat, I told him.
 Married to her, I shouldn t wonder. He gave a brief smile.  Joking, of course. I have no idea what she
was like.
I sat on the edge of the couch. He chose one of the armchairs and swiveled it around.  I remember
loving these chairs, he said.  I promised myself that if I ever got rich I d have at least one of them.
 And? I asked.
 Never had time to think about it. When I started to make money and bought an apartment, I got an
interior decorator. She was into the Western look. When I saw it all finished, I felt like Roy Rogers.
I had been studying him, and I realized that the gray around his temples was even more pronounced than
I had thought. There were fresh pouches under his eyes, and the concerned expression I had observed
last week had now become one of deep worry. He had flown to Florida yesterday because his father
had a heart attack. I asked Nick how he was doing.
 Pretty good. It really was a mild attack. They are releasing him in a couple of days.
Then Nick looked straight at me.  Carolyn, do you think Mack is alive? And if you do, is he capable of
what the cops think he s doing?
It was on the tip of my tongue to be honest, to say that at this point, I simply didn t know, but I caught
myself in time.  What on earth makes you ask that? Of course not. I hoped that I sounded as indignant
as I wanted to sound.
 Carolyn, don t look at me like that. Can t you understand that Mack was my best friend? I never could
figure out why he chose to disappear. Now I wonder if something was going on in his head that nobody
realized at the time.
 Are you worried about Mack or about yourself, Nick? I asked.
 I won t answer that. Carolyn, the one thing I beg of you,plead with you, is that if he is in contact with
you, or if hedoes call you, don t think you re doing him a favor by shielding him. Did you hear the
message Leesey Andrews left for her father this morning? He looked at me expectantly.
For a moment I was too shaken to speak, then managed to say that I hadn t turned on the radio or
television all day. But when Nick told me, all I could think of was Barrott s theory that Mack stole his
own car. It s crazy, but it reminded me of the day I was five or six years old and Mack suddenly had a
terrible nosebleed. Daddy was home, and he grabbed one of the monogrammed towels from a rack in
the bathroom to stem the flow. We had an elderly housekeeper at that time who adored Mack. She was
so upset that she tried to yank the towel out of Dad s hand.  That one s for show, she shrieked,  it s for
show!
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Daddy always got a kick out of telling that story, but he always added,  Poor Mrs. Anderson was so
worried about Mack, but to her the fancy towels just weren t disposable. I told her the towels have our
name on them, and Mack can ruin them if he likes!
I could imagine Mack stealing his own car, but not Mack holding Leesey hostage and torturing her
father. I looked at Nick.  I don t know what to think about Mack, I said.  I swear to you and to
anyone who will listen that other than those Mother s Day calls, I have not heard from Mack or seen him
in ten years.
Nick nodded, and my guess is that he believed me. Then he asked,  Do you think thatI am responsible
for Leesey s disappearance? That I have her hidden somewhere?
I examined my heart and my soul before I answered.  No, I don t, I said.  But both of you have been
dragged into this, Mack because I went to the police, you because she disappeared from your club. If
it s neither one of you, then whois responsible?
 Carolyn, I don t know where to begin to look for the answer to that.
We talked for more than an hour. I told him I was going to try to see Lil Kramer alone, because she was
afraid to say anything in front of her husband. We went round and round about the fact that, just before
he vanished, Mack had been upset with Mrs. Kramer but hadn t told Nick why. I told Nick how Bruce
Galbraith had been so hostile about Mack when I saw him last week, and that I thought Barbara had
rushed to visit her father in Martha s Vineyard just to avoid being questioned.
 I m going to drive up there tomorrow or Tuesday, I said.  Mother doesn t want to see me, and Elliott
will take care of her.
Nick asked me if I thought that Mom would marry Elliott.
 I think so, I said.  Quite honestly, I hope so. They re very good together. Mom certainly loved Dad,
but he delighted in being a bit of a rebel. Elliott is actually more of a soul mate, which of course is a little
hard for me to swallow. They re both perfectionists, and I think they ll be very happy together. Then I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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