The Cove

“God, did you really do that, Doctor Beadermeyer?” Scott said. Did you really plan with Amory St. John to kill another man and have him take Amory’s place? Was he planning to leave me to take the fall? Dammit, it’s the truth, isn’t it? I’d be the one blamed because he was supposedly dead. And I didn’t do all that much, I swear. There was Sally, but that was necessary because we knew she’d read several short messages that I’d forgotten were in my briefcase. There wasn’t any choice. I went along with him because I had to.”

Quinlan hit him again, this time in the jaw. He rather hoped he’d broken it.

Beadermeyer looked down at Scott, who was now lying on his side, unconscious. “What a piece of nothing he is, but that’s not my problem. Now, Quinlan, all this is nuts. Amory St. John was the one who died. I’ve had enough of this. I’m sorry, Sally. I’ve tried to help you, but now I just don’t care. I’m leaving.”

“When the devil leaves hell, Doctor Beadermeyer,” she said. “That’s when I’d go with you.”

“Best you find another comparison, Sally,” Quinlan said. “I know for a fact that the devil roams all over the world. We’ve got two of his little minions right here. So Sally’s father is still paying you. That surely answers the rest of my questions.”

“I’m leaving,” Dr. Beadermeyer said and walked toward the door.

“I don’t think you want to leave just yet,” Dillon said, stepping into the room.

“When that worm wakes up I want to hit him,” Noelle St. John said. “Well, maybe I won’t wait.” She walked over to Scott and kicked him in the ribs. “As for you,” she said to Dr. Beadermeyer, “if only Mr. Quinlan will give me a rubber hose, I’ll work you over but good. What all of you did to my daughter—Jesus, I’d like to kill you.”

“I’ll make sure you get that rubber hose, Noelle,” Quinlan said.

“I’m going to sue all of you. Police brutality, that’s it, and libel. Just look at poor Scott.”

Sally went over and kicked Scott in the ribs. Then she walked into her mother’s arms.

24

DILLON NODDED TO Quinlan and smiled at Sally. “That was well done. Quinlan’s good at helping people remember.”

He turned to Dr. Beadermeyer. “I don’t think you want to leave just yet. I’ve got lots more buddies coming any minute now. And they’re all special agents, which means they can shoot off the end of your pinky finger at fifty yards and make you sing out every secret you’ve had since you were two years old. They’re really very good, so it’s best that you just stay put, Doctor Beadermeyer.”

Noelle was staring at Dr. Beadermeyer. “I hope you rot in the deepest pit they can find to throw you in. Now, you miserable ass, where is my husband? Who was the poor man both of you murdered?”

“That’s an excellent question,” Quinlan said. “Tell us, Norman.”

It happened quickly. Dr. Beadermeyer pulled a small revolver out of his coat pocket. “I don’t have to tell you anything, you son of a bitch. You’ve ruined my life, Quinlan. I have no home, no money, damn you, nothing. God, I’d love to kill you, but then I’d never know peace, would I?”

They heard several car doors slam.

“It’s too late to whine, Norman,” Quinlan said. “Now you’re going to the slammer. You might consider cutting a deal. Tell us where Amory St. John is hiding. Tell us the name of that guy whose face you rearranged. Tell us the whole sordid story.”

“Go to hell, Quinlan.”

“Not for many years yet, I hope,” Quinlan said. “So it was Amory St. John who was continuing to pay you to keep Sally a prisoner. Was it indeed her father who followed her to The Cove and peered at her through her bedroom window that night? Were you with him? Did the two of you knock us out and take Sally back to your wonderful sanitarium? Yeah, that sounds right. It was Amory St. John on the phone to his daughter, his own face staring in at her through the bedroom window.”

“It’s all a lie, all of it. I’m leaving now. Come here, Noelle. I don’t think anyone will shoot if you’re with me.”

Sally said, “My father must have been furious when I saw him run out of this room. He would have thought I’d shout it to the world. That’s why he wanted you to keep me in the sanitarium.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sally,” Dr. Beadermeyer said. “You’re crazy. You escaped from a mental institution. Even if you’d spouted all this out as soon as the cops got here, no one would have believed you, not a single soul.”