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Back Maplecroft
Chapters (206)
  1. Praise for Maplecroft
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Contents
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. THESE ARE THE THINGS AN EARTHQUAKE BRINGS
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  12. A DOCTOR, A LAWYER, A MERCHANT, A CHIEF
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  20. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
  21. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  26. BE SURE YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT
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  29. I CROSS THE MAGPIE, THE MAGPIE CROSSES ME
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  31. Nance O’Neil
  32. THIS KNOT I KNIT, THIS KNOT I TIE
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  37. AND IF YOU HAVE A HORSE WITH ONE WHITE LEG . . .
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  43. THE WORST IS TO BE JUDGED WITHOUT HOPE
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  46. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  53. BUT NETTLE SHANT HAVE NOTHING
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  55. CUT THEM ON FRIDAY, YOU CUT THEM FOR SORROW
  56. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
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  62. HAPPY IS THE CORPSE THAT THE RAIN SHINES ON
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  67. A DWELLING PLACE OF JACKALS, THE DESOLATION FOREVER
  68. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  71. Nance O’Neil
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  84. Emma L. Borden
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  88. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  91. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  93. RIGHT CHEEK, LEFT CHEEK—WHY DO YOU BURN?
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  101. Aaron B. Stewart, Fire Chief, Farthington, Mass.
  102. Emma L. Borden
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  104. Gerald Macintyre, Telegraph Clerk, Western Union
  105. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  107. Physalia, Z. University I Was Not Now
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  109. DEPART, ALL ANIMALS WITHOUT BONES
  110. Emma L. Borden
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  115. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  119. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  130. Owen Seabury, M.D.
  131. Phillip Zollicoffer. Physalia Zollicoffris.
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  137. Christoff Dane, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, Kingston
  138. •   •   •
  139. Emma L. Borden
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  144. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  150. Emma L. Borden
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  153. FAMILY SLAIN IN MAYFIELD
  154. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  165. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  176. Emma L. Borden
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  186. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  197. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  205. Inspector Simon Wolf
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Miserably, he bobbed his head. “I saw the shop, and the scene of the crime. I can’t imagine an alternate theory with regard to what occurred, but the story is so outlandish that I don’t dare admit that I’ve given it any credence at all.”

“Did Matthew kill his godmother?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“And Ebenezer killed Matthew, in an attempt to save his wife?”

“That is also correct. But I’m afraid they’ll either commit him or hang him, depending on what he tells the authorities. I want to speak up for him. I want to defend him—”

“As you defended me?” I interjected. I didn’t mean to.

He was silent, and then he said, “As I defended you.”

I gathered my wits and my strength, and with all the courage I could muster I said bluntly, “You knew I was not innocent.”

Just as bluntly in return, he replied, “I feared that you weren’t, and I feared that no one would believe a plea of self-defense. But I saw her . . . ,” he said, and his eyes went far away. “I saw what she’d become, or what she was becoming. That’s what it is, isn’t it? Some kind of . . . change. No one would’ve believed you.”

My voice caught in my throat. I said, “Oh God . . . Doctor. All this time, and you . . . ?”

The heavy tread of Nance’s feet on the stairs stopped me cold. I finished up by saying only, “Nance doesn’t know. We mustn’t speak of it in front of her. Not yet. Not now.”

“But we will, won’t we?”

“Later,” I promised. I swore it again. “Later. Tomorrow afternoon? I’ll find some errand for Nance and chase her out of the house.”

I rose, and smiled primly, politely. He rose, too, and gathered his bags.

When Nance appeared in the parlor, the doctor was on his way out the door with a nod in her direction, and some murmured pleasantry about meeting her. She responded in kind, halfheartedly and without any real interest in the matter. She didn’t care to pretend. She was interested in our conversation, and what it had entailed.

As soon as the door was shut behind him, the pantomime was over.

She demanded to know. “What the hell is going on, Lizbeth?”

“Nothing serious. Just a small question for the doctor. A private one, if you don’t mind.”

“You’re lying. Not about the private bit, but you’re keeping something from me—and I doubt it’s a medical issue.”

“I’m keeping a number of things from you,” I said with attempted gaiety. It almost rang true, for I was still so charmed at the prospect of a helpful friend to share the burden of my research. I felt light-headed and all but delirious, stunned and yet energized.