Karen was across the open space, near the house. The light from the little window high in the wall shone down on her, and Eddie could see the look of shock she had, the tear shine on her face and the frightened attitude of her body. When Skip walked toward her she backed to the wall.

Skip stood, balancing on the balls of his feet, his hands in his pockets. He said almost indifferently, “You’re okay, aren’t you?”

Eddie wondered why she didn’t run into the house. She was scared; Skip’s violence had astounded her. But he heard her whisper, “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Sore at me?”

“You didn’t have to hurt me,” Karen said. “Finding the door locked was just as big a surprise to me as it was to you.” She was looking at Skip now as if something about him was new and unfamiliar.

Skip stood quietly, almost meekly. It was an act, of course. Eddie had seen Skip do it a thousand times, and though it was false, a fantastic pretense, he could almost believe—as Karen must—that Skip was sorry for what he had done. “Well, sure, I blew my stack over nothing. Why do you think she locked the door if she’s never done it before?”

“On account of the coat,” Karen said wearily. “Mr. Stolz kept it lying on the money, covering the money so you didn’t see it if you accidentally opened the door of the wardrobe. Maybe she knew where the coat belonged or maybe she didn’t recognize it because Mr. Stolz never wears it. I don’t know. She got excited when she found it lying on the bed.”

After a while Skip said musingly, “What a rotten break.”

Karen didn’t say anything. She knew that Skip blamed her.

Skip said, “Well, you’ll have to find that key tomorrow.”

“Oh no, Skip! Please! It’s too dangerous. It’s time to stop now.”

“You’ll find it,” Skip insisted. He didn’t take any step nearer, but something in his eyes that Karen could see, that Eddie couldn’t see from where he stood, seemed to frighten her. “You’ll be sure that door’s not locked tomorrow night, and we’ll be here right on schedule. Then afterwards we’ll have fun.”

Eddie wished there was some way he might have comforted her. She looked as if her world were coming apart at the seams.

Eddie let himself into the rear of the house. There was no one in the living room tonight. From the bedroom he heard his father’s snoring. He knew that his mother must be lying in there awake and miserable, trying to rest because that was what the doctor had told her to do, but kept from sleeping by the grunts and snorts of her husband.