The parlor was filled with heavy, dark Victorian furniture, including an upright piano that I knew had been bought for me. I didn’t hesitate, but continued to the stairs and then up to the second floor.

I went into a bedroom where a man was lying in bed. He had a full gray beard and he looked about sixty. He also seemed ill. His eyes were closed and his face was beaded with sweat. He opened his eyes now and smiled at me.

I went to a night stand, picked up a bottle and a spoon and poured out some liquid. The man had raised up now and he took the dose I gave him, then fell back and closed his eyes again. I knew he was my husband and I knew I was poisoning him.

I recorked the bottle, put the spoon in its glass, left the room and went back downstairs and out the front door. General Caine was standing in the drive beside his Arabian. He wasn’t wearing his uniform now, but instead a well-­cut black suit. He was watching me intently, and when I nodded my head he came forward and embraced me. Then he helped me into the buggy, which I knew he had bought for me, got on his horse and rode down the drive. When he reached the road, he waved to me to follow him.

I had picked up the reins and was about to start the chestnut when a voice below me asked, “Why did you come back?”

20

Chapter Twenty

The buggy disappeared and I was sitting behind the wheel of the Plymouth. I was Maggie Caine again, although I remembered everything that had happened. George Langley, the boy who lived with the Webers, was standing by the car door watching me solemnly.

“Why were you in the house?” he asked. “Did you want to see the meeting room again?”

When I was able to speak I said, “Yes, that’s right. Where were you?”

“Walking on the road. I saw you drive in here so I came home.”

“You saw me drive in?”

“Yes.”

“In this car?”

He studied me briefly, then nodded. “Yes.”

So there it was. I was losing my mind.

“Where are Mrs. Reddy and the Webers?”

“Mr. Weber went away a little while ago. Mrs. Weber and Mrs. Reddy were in the parlor when I went out.”

“How long ago was that?”

“About ten minutes ago. I just went out for a walk.”

How could they be in the parlor? Wouldn’t I have seen them? They would have prevented me going up the stairs, wouldn’t they?

“Did you see me go in the house too, George?”

“Yes, and then you came out a couple of minutes later.”