Arthur made a decision. They had to move out.

A few days later, Allen found a cheap two and a half room apartment in a white frame house at 808 Broad Street, just a short drive east of where Dorothy lived. It was a rundown place, but it had a refrigerator and a stove. He added a mattress, a couple of chairs and a table. Dorothy let him buy a Pontiac Grand Prix in her name with the understanding that he would make the payments on it.

Ragen bought a .30-caliber carbine with a nine-shot clip and a .25-caliber semiautomatic.

At first, the freedom of having his own apartment was exhilarating. He could paint when he wanted, with no one hassling him.

Arthur made sure aspirin and other medication were purchased in bottles with child-proof caps so that the little ones wouldn’t get into them. He even insisted that Ragen find a child-proof cap that could be adapted to fit his vodka bottle, and he reminded him to make sure his guns were always under lock and key.

A rivalry developed between Adalana and “April” in the kitchem, and though Arthur sensed there was going to be trouble, he decided not to take sides. He had little enough time for his own study, research and planning for the future, so he tried not to pay attention to the women constantly haranguing and arguing in the back of his mind. When the nagging got too bad, he suggested that Adalana do the cooking and April do the sewing and washing, and let it go at that.

Arthur had been quite taken by the thin, black-haired, brown-eyed April when he first discovered her along with the others. She was more attractive than the plain, almost homely Adalana, and certainly more intelligent. Almost as bright as Tommy or Allen, or even Arthur himself. And he was intrigued, at first, by her Boston accent. But he had lost interest in her when he became aware of her thoughts. April was obsessed with ideas of torturing and killing Chalmer.

She worked things out in her mind. If she could lure Chalmer to the apartment, she would tie him in the chair and bum his body, bit by bit, with a blowtorch. She would keep him awake with amphetamines, and the heat of the blowtorch would amputate each toe and each finger, cauterizing as it did, so there would be no blood. She wanted him to suffer here, before he went to hell.

April began to work on Ragen.

She whispered into his ear, “You have to kill Chalmer. You have to take one of your guns and shoot him.”

“I am not murderer.”

“It wouldn’t be murder. It would be justice for what he did.” “I am not law. Justice is for courts. I use my strength only to defend the children and vomans.”

“I’m a woman.”

“You are crazy voman.”

“All you would have to do is take your rifle and hide on the hill across from where he lives now with his new wife. You could take him. No one would ever know who did it.”