Part 24 (2/2)
”So you left.”
”When I got to the city and began looking into things, it became obvious that Gaylen's information was useless. The addresses were nonexistent and the phone number a blind. The address you gave me was real enough, but by then I had reversed things and was intent on backtracking Gaylen rather than Maureen. It did not take long once I located the right papers and records, and then the reasons behind the falsehoods began to emerge. That led me to Kingsburg. Ten years ago Maureen had Gaylen confined to a private asylum located there.”
”What? She put her own sister in a nuthouse?”
He opened one eye in my direction. ”You know you have a bent toward colorful language that I find most entertaining.”
”And you're funny, too. Go on.”
He shut his eye and continued. ”It was an expensive place, the sort that the wealthy patronize when they have inconvenient relatives. The patients, no matter how lively, are treated with velvet gloves, but kept under strict watch. The usual sort found there are alcoholics and drug addicts, but occasionally they take in someone like Gaylen. Her daughter, Maureen, had her declared mentally incompetent-”
”But they-”
”Yes, you and I know they were sisters, but I imagine it would have looked odd if Maureen gave that fact to the doctors.”
”And if Gaylen insisted-”
”Which she did at first, according to the doctor I talked to, and that insistence only reinforced the reasons for her being there, at least for a while. It was there she became friends with another patient, Norma Gryder.”
”The woman helping them. Why was she there?”
”Morphine addict. They escaped together in 1931 and vanished.”
”Maureen found out and had to run to protect herself and me, to try and prevent what I walked right into.”
”It seems likely. Perhaps all this time they were keeping an eye on you through your ad just as Braxton had been doing. She would also need more dependable help than Norma could provide and would be looking for someone like Malcolm. When your notice was canceled they had to find out why. I should never have brought it to your attention.””You couldn't have known. They were worried, though. She was genuinely relieved when I showed up on the doorstep.”
”And genuinely horrified about Braxton, and she lost no time in trying to persuade you to this blood exchange when she knew I'd be going to New York. My return or an untimely telegram would have ruined it all for her, but your own instincts made you turn down her request, causing her to make it a demand. Either way, you lose.”
”Not me-Bobbi. Why didn't you send a telegram?”
”I did. One here and the other to Miss Smythe's hotel. Both must have been intercepted by Malcolm or Gryder. I received no replies and decided to take an aeroplane back. An interesting mode of transport, I quite enjoyed it, despite the noise.
”I checked with her hotel the moment I was back, and they told me she was out, then I went looking for you. This morning I called Gordy and he started his own investigation. We visited Gaylen's room, of course, but she was gone. She went to a great deal of trouble to set up the facade of a harm-less and endearing soul, no doubt to arouse your sympathies before making her request.”
”I suppose all that stuff about Maureen's death was a lie.”
”I don't know. I had no time to trace down those records; perhaps on the next trip. At the moment we can do nothing. The management at her hotel hasn't seen Gaylen since she left yesterday evening. Her clothes are still there, but some few personal items, toiletries and such, are gone, and I doubt it she will return now.
Gordy has men watching just in case, hut if she's anywhere, it will be with Malcolm and Gryder.”
”And Bobbi. It'd have to be isolated, maybe out of town.”
His pipe had gone out. He sat up and fiddled with it. ”Not necessarily. You saw how isolated you were in the warehouse. I also checked on it. The owners are bankrupt and because of legal problems it's been unrented and empty for months.”
”Then who paid the electric bill?”
”There's a generator in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Gordy has two men waiting there as well, just in case Malcolm returns to dispose of your body.”
”He didn't strike me as being that neat. What about the kid?”
”Kid... Oh, yes, the Braxton shooting was given an excess of coverage in the newspapers, but the police have little to go on. Young Webber received a concussion, but is recovering in hospital. He described Malcolm as his attacker, which is in your favor, as the police are looking for you.”
”For me?””Several people could not help but notice your disheveled appearance as you tore around the building looking for Miss Smythe. The police want to talk to you and have inquired after Miss Smythe, but Marza told them she'd left town to be with a sick relative.”
”She could have come up with something better than that.”
”I believe it was Mr. Pruitt's suggestion.”
”Bright guy. With him on their side, the Communists don't stand a chance.”
”Hmmm.”
”Has Matheus talked?”
”I wasn't able to see him, but did manage a brief chat with a hospital orderly who is fond of gossip. The boy is feeling better, but naturally upset at the inexplicable death of his friend. The police have been in to see him, but no one else except his parents has spoken to him.”
”And everyone full of questions.”
”True, but what can he say?”
”Yeah, if he tells the truth about hunting down a vampire, they'll think he's nuts.”
”You had better hope they do,” he said with meaning.
I took it. Either way somebody would be in trouble; me if they believed his story, and him if they didn't.
His pipe relit and drawing, he leaned back on the sofa. ”How much time pa.s.sed between Miss Smythe's call and Malcolm's?”
”Ten minutes, maybe less.”
”There was no phone in the warehouse. I would guess they made the first call to prove they had her, secured her, and made the second call. Then they hurried to the warehouse to wait for you.”
I lurched out of the chair, ready to put some holes in the walls, but hugged my chest instead. It still hurt. ”Gaylen may have died by now. She wouldn't wait.”
”Yes.”
”She'll be like me, if it happens.”
”Not like you.”
”It won't be just her. From her talk she'll be trying to change Malcolm, too. If it works for him, they'll be the kind of monsters Braxton was after.””You told me that acquiring this condition is difficult and there is no way to tell until after death.”
”That's how I understood it. I'm thinking that it might work for Gaylen since it worked for Maureen. Malcolm I don't know about, but it's better if we include him as well, just to save us from any surprises.”
”Unfortunately, yes.”
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