Абрахам Меррит - Burn, Witch, Burn!

old-fashioned, dating back to a more peaceful New York; sturdy vines of Virginia creepers climb up

them both at front and back. I cautioned the nurse to maintain utmost quiet, arranging her light so that it

would cast only the slightest gleam upon Ricori. Going out, I similarly cautioned the guards, telling them

that their chief's speedy recovery might depend upon silence.

It was now after six. I asked Braile to stay for dinner, and afterward to drop in on my patients at the

hospital and to call me up if he thought it worthwhile. I wanted to stay at home and await Ricori's

awakening, should it occur.

We had almost finished dinner when the telephone rang. Braile answered.

"McCann," he said. I went to the instrument.

"Hello, McCann. This is Dr. Lowell."

"How's the boss?"

"Better, I'm expecting him to awaken any moment and to be able to talk," I answered, and listened

intently to catch whatever reaction he might betray to this news.

"That's great, Doc!" I could detect nothing but deepest satisfaction in his tones. "Listen, Doc, I seen

Mollie an' I got some news. Dropped round on her right after I left you. Found Gilmore-that's her

husband-home, an' that gave me a break. Said I'd come in to ask her how she'd like a little ride. She

was tickled an' we left Gil home with the kid-"

"Does she know of Peters' death?" I interrupted.

"Nope. An' I didn't tell her. Now listen. I told you Horty-What? Why Missus Darnley, Jim Wilson's gal.

Yeah. Let me talk, will you? I told you Horty was nuts on Mollie's kid. Early last month Horty comes in

with a swell doll for the kid. Also she's nursing a sore hand she says she gets at the same place she got

the doll. The woman she gets the doll from gave it to her, she tells Mollie-What? No, gave her the doll,

not the hand. Say, Doc, ain't I speaking clear? Yeah, she gets her hand hurt where she got the doll.

That's what I said. The woman fixes it up for her. She gives her the doll for nothing, Horty tells Mollie,

because she thought Horty was so pretty an' for posing for her. Yeah, posing for her, making a statue of

her or something. That makes a hit with Horty because she don't hate herself an' she thinks this doll

woman a lallapaloozer. Yeah, a lallapaloozer, a corker! Yeah.

"About a week later Tom-that's Peters-shows up while Horty's there an' sees the doll. Tom's a mite

jealous of Horty with the kid an' asks her where she got it. She tells him a Madame Mandilip, an' where,

an' Tom he says as this is a gal-doll she needs company, so he'll go an' get a boy-doll. About a week

after this Tom turns up with a boy-doll the lick-an'-split of Horty's. Mollie asks him if he pays as much for

it as Horty. They ain't told him about Horty not paying nothing for it or posing. Mollie says Tom looks

sort of sheepish but all he says is, well, he ain't gone broke on it. She's going to kid him by asking if the

doll woman thinks he's so pretty she wants him to pose, but the kid sets up a whoop about the boy-doll

an' she forgets it. Tom don't show up again till about the first of this month. He's got a bandage on his

hand an' Mollie, kidding, asks him if he got it where he got the doll. He looks surprised an' says 'yes, but

how the hell did you know that?' Yeah-yeah, that's what she says he told her. What's that? Did the

Mandilip woman bandage it for him? How the hell-I don't know. I guess so, maybe. Mollie didn't say

an' I didn't ask. Listen, Doc, I told you Mollie's no dummy. What I'm telling you took me two hours to

get. Talking 'bout this, talking 'bout that an' coming back casual like to what I'm trying to find out. I'm

afraid to ask too many questions. What? Oh, that's all right, Doc. No offense. Yeah, I think it pretty

funny myself. But like I'm telling you I'm afraid to go too far. Mollie's too wise.

"Well, when Ricori comes up yesterday he uses the same tactics as me, I guess. Anyway, he admires the

dolls an' asks her where she gets 'em an' how much they cost an' so on. Remember, I told you I stay out

in the car while he's there. It's after that he goes home an' does the telephoning an' then beats it to the

Mandilip hag. Yeah, that's all. Does it mean anything? Yeah? All right then."

He was silent for a moment or two, but I had not heard the click of the receiver. I asked:

"Are you there, McCann?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking." His voice held a wistful note. "I'd sure like to be with you when the boss

comes to. But I'd best go down an' see how the hands are getting along with them two Mandilip cows.

Maybe I'll call you up if it ain't too late. G'by."

I walked slowly back to Braile, trying to marshal my disjointed thoughts. I repeated McCann's end of the

conversation to him exactly. He did not interrupt me. When I had finished he said quietly:

"Hortense Darnley goes to the Mandilip woman, is given a doll, is asked to pose, is wounded there, is

treated there. And dies. Peters goes to the Mandilip woman, gets a doll, is wounded there, is presumably

treated there. And dies like Hortense. You see a doll for which, apparently, he has posed. Harriet goes

through the same routine. And dies like Hortense and Peters. Now what?"

Suddenly I felt rather old and tired. It is not precisely stimulating to see crumbling what one has long

believed to be a fairly well ordered world of recognized cause and effect. I said wearily:

"I don't know."

He arose, and patted my shoulder.

"Get some sleep. The nurse will call you if Ricori wakes. We'll get to the bottom of this thing."

"Even if we fall to it," I said, and smiled.

"Even if we have to fall to it," he repeated, and did not smile.

After Braile had gone I sat for long, thinking. Then, determined to dismiss my thoughts, I tried to read. I

was too restless, and soon gave it up. Like the room in which Ricori lay, my study is at the rear, looking

down upon the little garden. I walked to the window and stared out, unseeingly. More vivid than ever

was that feeling of standing before a blank door which it was vitally important to open. I turned back into

the study and was surprised to find it was close to ten o'clock. I dimmed my light and lay down upon the

comfortable couch. Almost immediately I fell asleep.

I awoke from that sleep with a start, as though someone had spoken in my ear. I sat up, listening. There

was utter silence around me. And suddenly I was aware that it was a strange silence, unfamiliar and

oppressive. A thick, dead silence that filled the study and through which no sound from outside could

penetrate. I jumped to my feet and turned on the lights, full. The silence retreated, seemed to pour out of

the room like something tangible. But slowly. Now I could hear the ticking of my clock-ticking out

abruptly, as though a silencing cover had been whisked from it. I shook my head impatiently, and walked

to the window. I leaned out to breathe the cool night air. I leaned out still more, so that I could see the

window of Ricori's room, resting my hand on the trunk of the vine. I felt a tremor along it as though

someone were gently shaking it-or as though some small animal were climbing it-

The window of Ricori's room broke into a square of light. Behind me I heard the shrilling of the Annex

alarm bell which meant the urgent need of haste. I raced out of the study, and up the stairs and over.

As I ran into the corridor I saw that the guards were not at the door. The door was open. I stood

stock-still on its threshold, incredulous-

One guard crouched beside the window, automatic in hand. The other knelt beside a body on the floor,