Lawrence Block - The Burglar in the Library

“And arrived in the nick of time,” Carolyn said.

I crumpled a piece of paper and threw it for Raffles. “Ray didn’t have any jurisdiction up there,” I went on, “but he got in touch with the state troopers, and they tried to reach Cuttleford House and confirmed that the phones were out. So they broke out a helicopter and brought Ray along for the ride. And the rest you know, because you were there for it.”

“Yes.”

“So I suppose you’re wondering why I summoned you here,” I said. “Today, I mean. This afternoon.”

“I thought you just wanted to see me, Bernie.”

“Well, it’s always a pleasure, Lettice. But there was something I wanted to talk about.”

“Oh? What would that be?”

“It would be the bridge,” I said. “The one that spanned Cuttlebone Creek, until it didn’t anymore.”

“What about it, Bernie?”

“You remember how the bridge wound up in the gully, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Gordon Wolpert slashed the ropes.”

“Right. And the bridge went tumbling into the gully, silent as Berkeley ’s tree. And then the next morning Orris walked right off the edge, not even noticing that the bridge was missing.”

“I remember,” she said. “You explained it all in the library, before Dakin pulled the gun.”

“I keep picturing Orris,” I said. “Stepping right off into space like that. It’s a pretty funny image, wouldn’t you say?”

“Funny? The man was killed.”

“I know, but it’s right smack on the border of tragedy and farce, isn’t it? And how could he do a thing like that? I mean, if he’d been running, say. Pursued by a bear, that sort of thing. But he was just walking, making his way through the snow, and all of a sudden there wasn’t any snow, or any ground beneath his feet, either. He must have been surprised.”

“I’m sure he was. Bernie, do we have to talk about-”

“Too surprised to scream, you’d almost think, but he managed to get a scream out. Can you imagine walking off a cliff like that, Lettice? In broad daylight?”

“You explained that he could have been snowblind, Bernie.”

“True.”

“And that he was intellectually challenged.”

“Also true. The nearest thing to dead between the ears, you might say. Still, he had the inbred cunning of the Cobbetts, didn’t he? You wouldn’t think he’d try to walk through the air. You want to know what I think, Lettice?”

“What?”

“I think he stepped on the bridge and started walking across, and the ropes had been cut partway through, and they snapped, and that’s how he fell.”

“But nobody heard the bridge fall.”

“Ah,” I said. “Nobody heard it in the middle of the night, either. Maybe there’s not that much noise involved. Maybe the shout Orris gave drowned it out, or merged with it so that no one noticed it. Remember, there was snow covering everything. That could muffle sounds. No, I think the bridge fell into the gully the very same time Orris did.”

“That’s what you thought originally,” Carolyn said. “Remember, Bern? When you first told everybody the ropes had been cut?”

“That’s right,” I said. “That’s how it looked to me, just from a quick examination of the ends of the rope. On one of them, it was easy to see where some of the fibers had been cut cleanly, and others looked as though they’d been stretched until they tore.”

“I don’t understand,” Lettice said. “What difference does it make? Maybe Wolpert didn’t want to risk making a lot of noise, so he just stopped cutting before the ropes parted. Or maybe what you said in the library was right, and Orris was in too much of a hurry to look where he was putting his feet. Either way he’s dead, and either way Wolpert was responsible.”

“You’re probably right,” I admitted. “Wolpert’s answering to a higher authority, so it’s academic whether he was purposely setting a lethal trap or just trying to keep anybody from getting across the bridge. And I don’t suppose there’s any real point in trying to salvage Orris’s reputation for quick thinking.”

I picked up a sheet of paper, but Raffles looked too comfortable. I didn’t have the heart to disturb him, nor did I want to risk throwing the crumpled paper and having him ignore it. I always feel like a jerk when that happens.

“So I’ll just let it go,” I continued. “The police have it all wrapped up, and they’re happy, so why confuse them?” I looked at the guileless face above the blood-red bow tie. “But I wouldn’t want you to think you got away with it,” I said.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“You know,” I said, “I’d have been willing to bet those would be the words out of your mouth, and what nonsense. Of course you understand.”

“But…”

There’s three dots instead of a dash after that but because I didn’t chime in and interrupt. I just let the word hang in the air, wondering if it would wind up falling into the gully.

Then I said, “You cut the ropes, Lettice. You and Dakin were the last people over the bridge. He got into the house before you did. You either lagged behind or pretended to drop something and went back for it, but it gave you time to get a knife out of your purse and start sawing through the ropes supporting the bridge.”

“Why would I do a thing like that?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

“It’s ridiculous,” she said. “I’d be setting a trap for a person I’d never even met. You and I have been… close, Bernie. How could you possibly think me capable of such a thing?”

“You weren’t setting a trap.”

“But you just said-”

“If you’d had your way,” I said, “you’d have sliced right through those ropes in a New York minute. But minutes take a lot longer up in the faux-English countryside. And you didn’t have the right tools for the job.”

Carolyn asked me what I meant. Lettice just stared at me.

I pointed at her purse. “If I took that bag away from you and dumped it out on the countertop,” I said, “I bet I’d find a cute little penknife with a blade shorter than your pinky. It’s a useful little accessory, handy for slitting an envelope or paring a fingernail or cutting a piece of thread. And you can even cut through a stout rope with the thing, but it’s not easy. You have to sort of saw your way through, and it takes time.”

She was silent for a moment, her arm pressing her handbag protectively against her side. Then she said, “Lots of women have knives in their bags.”

“I know. Some of them carry Mace these days, and some tote guns around with them. Small guns, though, not like the cannon Dakin took off Wolpert’s corpse. Little ladylike guns, same as yours is a little ladylike knife.”

“If I had a knife like that,” she said, “it wouldn’t prove anything.”

“It might if there were rope fibers in the casing. And if they matched the ropes on Cuttleford Bridge.”

She looked long and hard at me, then lowered her eyes. After a moment she said, “I never meant for anyone to get killed. I hope you believe me, Bernie.”

“I do.”

“‘I do.’ That’s what I said, standing up next to Dakin in front of the city clerk. That’s what started the whole thing.”

“What happened, Lettice?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Somehow I knew I’d made a mistake. I knew it days before the ceremony, Bernie. I suppose it was intuition, little hints I picked up. I knew I shouldn’t marry him.”

“But you did.”

“I almost got married a few years ago,” she said, “to a perfectly nice young man, and I got cold feet and backed out at the last minute. So I thought I was just doing the same thing all over again, and I told myself I had to go through with it this time. I was afraid to go to Aruba, Bernie. I think I knew something would happen to me there.”