Youre welcome. Yes, I would defend you to the death against such an oaf. Oh, wait. I am dead. And still, my dear, I did my best.
Katie had offended Bartholomew, she realized. Im sorry, Im so sorry, Bartholomew. Im sure you sprang instantly to my defense, and I deeply appreciate your efforts.
I will keep trying. As long as that man is in the city, I swear, I will keep trying, Bartholomew promised.
I dont understand. He doesnt want to be here. He plans on living elsewhere forever and ever, Katie said.
She realized that he was silent then.
What? she demanded. He hasnt been here in ten years, Bartholomew. He doesnt care about the place, and I dont care what he said, he showed no respect, not making it home for his grandfathers funeral.
I thought they couldnt locate him-since he was off somewhere, Bartholomew said.
Youre standing up for him? she asked skeptically.
No, nohis behavior to a lady was reprehensible, abominable! Bartholomew said. Completely unacceptable. Except
Except what?
Bartholomew looked at her, appeared to take a deep breath and said, I think, in a way, I understand his feelings.
I would never let anything horrible like that happen again, Katie protested.
I dont think they expected it to happen the first time, Bartholomew told her.
But they werent aware of what might happen. Id be way ahead. And please, we dont have murderers crawling through the city, visiting the museums on a daily basis.
At the least, though, you should understand his feelings. If I know the story right, he was engaged to the girl. And she was found dead, right where you came upon him tonight.
I dont think they were engaged anymore, Katie said.
And there the point. Motive for murder.
So you think that he did it.
No, actually, I dont think so. But a ruined romance? Thats a motive for murder.
Youre watching too much TV, Katie said.
Hmm. TV. Such an amazing and wonderful invention. So vastly entertaining! Bartholomew agreed. But its true. He was a spurned lover. Thats a motive. She was leaving him. For a brute of a game-playing fellow. That is, by any reckoning, definitely a motive for murder.
He was cleared, Katie said.
He wasnt arrested or prosecuted. He had an alibi. His alibi, however, was his family.
She turned to him sharply. I thought you just said that you didnt think that he murdered her?
True. No. No, I dont think he killed her. He was rude, but I know many a fine fellow who can actually be rude. But murder, especially such a crime of passion-he doesnt look the type. He seems to be the type who easily attracts women, and therefore, he might have been heartbroken, but he would have moved on. I mean, thats the way I see it. The man is-appears to be, at least-a mans man. He could completely lose his temper and engage in a rowdy bar fight, maybe, but murder Ah! But then again, what does the type look like? Now, in my day, many a man looked the part of a cutthroat and a thief-because he was one. But these daysah, well. We did come upon him at the scene of the crime.
It wasnt actually the scene of the crime. She was strangled, but the police believe she was killed elsewhere and brought to the museum. I was a child when it all happened. Well, a teenager, at any rate, and it was a scandal, and I know it disturbed Sean I vaguely remember that he and David Beckett werefriends. They both loved sports, football, swim team, diving, fishingall that. But then David left. And never came back. And the talk died down. Mainly, I believe, because everyone loved Craig Beckett. But if David Beckett is innocent, I really dont understand his position-or yours. And hes deserted Key West. So?
I have to admit, I rather admire the fact that hes so determined, especially because he doesnt want to stay here. He doesnt want to see anything like it happen again, whether it affects him or not. Ill still do my best to take him down for you, though! he vowed.
The streets here were quiet, with only the sound of distant, muted laughter coming to them now and again. Even that was infrequent now. The hour was growing late-or early.
They came to Katies house. Shed left lights on in the kitchen, parlor area and porch. The two-seater swing on the porch rocked gently in the breeze. She had a small-very small-patch of ground before the steps to the porch, but her hibiscus bushes were in bloom and they made the entry pretty.
Set in stained glass from the Tiffany era on the double doors, a Victorian lady and her gentleman friend sat properly, immortalized in timeless ovals.
Katie unlocked the door and stepped in. Her world was familiar. Her parents were now boating around the world, her brother would always be off filming another documentary and the house was hers. Certainly, her folks had given her a bargain price. But she had purchased it through a bank, she had come up with the down payment and she had never missed a mortgage payment.
She loved the house. She was delighted that she owned it, that she had kept it in the family.
And yet, as she stood there, she wondered about the years David Beckett had spent away. He had gone to exotic places. He had discovered the entire globe.
Shed gone away, too, she reminded herself.
Rightall the way up the eastern seaboard!
Katie? Bartholomew said.
She looked at him.
Whats the matter now? he asked.
Nothing. I just realized that Ive made an island my world.
Thats not a bad thing.
But is it a good thing? Anyway, dont answer. Im exhausted. Im going to bed.
We have to be at the bank bright and early.
She blew him a kiss. Dont go watching more television, Bartholomew.
It will stunt my growth? Make me die young? he asked.
She groaned and walked up the stairs.
She groaned and walked up the stairs.
He had been restless that night, all through the night.
That was the only reason he had been out walking.
And when he had been walking, he had seen the lights on at the museum.
And so, he had looked up at the old mansion, and he had stared.
There could only be one person who would be there tonight, only one person who would have gone in, turned on the lights. Someone with a right to be there.
Someone who knew it well. Beckett.
Silently, he cursed Beckett. The man shouldnt have come back. The past was the past; settled, over, accepted. Some believed it had been David Beckett, but that he was long gone and despicably above the law. Others believed that a psycho had come and was also long gone. It was over. It was part of the myth and legend of Key West.
He shouldnt have come back.
But he had.
He had seen Katie OHara, seen her go in. Hed heard the squeak of her scream, but he hadnt been alarmed. Hed held his ground. Watched. Waited.
Then, hed seen her come out, and hed stepped quickly back into the shadows. He hadnt intended to be seen that night.
Katie had left in what appeared to be a fury.
Shed thought she owned the place. But Beckett was back.
A few minutes later, Beckett had come out, and hed headed in the same direction but then turned down the street to the Beckett estate.
When Beckett was gone, hed followed Katie. He knew where she lived. Hed walked, and stood in the shadows, and hed looked at her house.
He stayed, feeling time go by. No need to be here, staring up at the house in the darkness.
But he stayed, watching.
His fingers itched.
He felt a bizarre fury growing inside of him.
And then he understood.
He felt the sudden temptation to let history repeat itself.
3
There was no meeting at the bank.
Liam called her before eight.
Katie had set her alarm, but it wasnt set to go off for another thirty minutes. She was only a few blocks away from the bank, and she was capable of showering and dressing in less than fifteen minutes-a nice survival technique if you worked nights and wanted to maintain any kind of a daytime existence.
She groaned while she fumbled for her phone. She only kept a cell, but it was sitting on the bedside table and, naturally, she knocked it off as she went to answer it. She had to feel around on the floor to find it and answer it.
It was Liam.
Liam! I saw your cousin last night. He was in the house. And he said that-
Katie, I am so sorry.
What?
He wont sell.
But-but-I thought you were the executor!
Coexecutor.
But he was having you make decisions!
I was acting solely while we all made an attempt to reach David. He was deep in the jungle. When he wrote, he told me to move along as I saw fit. But as youve seen, hes back. Katie, this is all my fault. I thought that David would certainly be pleased to sell. I didnt know how he felt about the museum. I made a dozen decisions and he didnt have a problem with a thing, butKatieIm sorry.
But all we needed to do today was sign the last papers, she said with dismay.
I know. Im sorry, so very sorry.
No, no, Liam, I know its not your fault, she said.
It is, he said. I mean, its not my fault David wont agree to sell, but I led you on. Katie, itsgo ahead. Please. Get mad at me.
She laughed. Okay. Im mad at you. But your cousin is a jerk and an ass.
Liam was silent. She had forgotten that it was a close-knit family, and she understood because she would defend her brother until the stars ceased to shine.
Now Im sorry, Liam, she said.
No, Katie, no, its all right. I know how disappointed you are. And I feel just terrible. Honestly. I can still try to persuade him, but I think Im going to lay off for a while now. Give him some time to realize that you are never going to make a mockery of anything that happened, sensationalize or make profit off the murder
Thats what he believes? she asked, astonished.
I think its what he was afraid of at first. I know that he met you last night; he explained it this morning when he said we needed to stop the sale before we wasted everyones time. Katie, I think he has a phobia that it could happen again.
So he said, she murmured. But-every museum down here has an exhibit thats dedicated to Elena and Count von Cosel. It could happen anywhere. How do we make him see that, and make him understand thatthat what happened Oh, I dont know. Ten years have gone by. The killer is dead, or living in another state, or in prison for another offense. I loved your grandfather, you know that. He fueled the dream in me, Liam. How do we make your cousin see that?