Five minutes later the phone rang, and Joseph said she would hop on the next ferry, which was scheduled to leave in about seven minutes. That gave me thirty-seven minutes to think about what I had just learned.
“You on the phone with Arnold?” Jack asked, coming into the kitchen where Eddie was crawling around and tossing small toys.
“He checked a date for me. You know that fire that Chief La Coste calls ‘the Great Fire’? It happened on Labor Day.”
“Very nice.” Jack opened the refrigerator. Eddie crawled over and grabbed Jack’s leg. “You thirsty, Eddie? Let me get you something.” He took out the apple juice and I found a clean cup.
While I talked to Jack, Eddie sat in his high chair and glugged down the juice, holding the cup in his two palms. “Somebody killed Ken Buckley because of something that happened fifteen years ago, Jack. I can’t believe those two fires happened on the same holiday by chance.”
“It sure raises a lot of questions. But nobody died in that fire. Why did someone kill Ken?”
“Especially since setting fire to the house would have been retaliation enough.”
“Well, this isn’t the day to ask anyone questions in this town. They’re all going to the funeral.”
“The firemen and their wives were assembling at the firehouse when I got there. Fred took me into Ken’s office and let me look at the files. I found an interesting note. The Great Fire started with something burning on the stove. Does that ring a bell?”
He whistled, and Eddie looked up from his juice at the sound. “Sounds like someone was sending a message. A double message.”
“I have the name of the family that owned the house. Fred said they moved to another town on Fire Island, west of here. I’m going to look them up. Maybe Joseph and I can trike over there later this afternoon.”
“Take a water taxi, Chris. Live it up. It’s our last weekend and we can afford it.”
I got out the little phone book and looked up Conrad Norris. The town was a few miles west of Blue Harbor. While it might make a pleasurable ride on a bike, Jack was right; we would take a water taxi. I dialed the number and hung up when a man answered. The Norrises were still on Fire Island.
I mopped up Eddie’s face, kissing both cheeks as I did so. Then I said to him, “We’re going to the ferry to get Joseph. Can you say Joseph?”
He looked at me.
“Joseph? Joseph? Joe?”
No comprehension at all. Oh well, I had tried. I carried him out to the stroller and started for the bay.
It was easy to spot her. Nuns at St. Stephen’s Convent still wore the traditional brown habit, albeit updated, and it contrasted with the casual, sometimes colorful, clothing of the handful of other passengers filing off the ferry.
“Here comes Joseph,” I said to Eddie. I knelt beside the stroller and pointed toward the group walking up the pier.
When she reached us, we hugged. She was alone, apparently having decided not to bring along a companion.
“Chris, I don’t believe this is the little baby I saw a month or two ago.” She knelt. “Are you Eddie? You look just like your daddy. I’m Joseph.”
He stared at her.
“That’s Joseph,” I said. “Joseph is coming to stay with us.”
He watched as she rose, his face very serious. Then he shouted, “Doe!”
I nearly shrieked with delight. “Yes, that’s Joseph,” I said.
“Doe!” He pointed. “Doe, Doe.”
“Chris, you didn’t teach him to say that since last night, did you?”
“I guess I did. I’m as surprised to hear him say it as you are. Every time I tried to get him to say it, he kept looking at me as if I were crazy.” I took her bag, which was a soft nylon zipper bag, and stuffed it into the basket at the back of the stroller, and we started walking.
Eddie seemed excited with his new accomplishment. He kept shouting “Doe!” as we walked, sometimes pointing to the sky with his fingers.
“This place is wonderful,” Joseph said, as we turned onto a wooden walkway. “And the ferry ride was absolutely invigorating. The breeze was so pure and cool. I can’t believe I’m actually somewhere where there aren’t any cars.”
“You’ll get used to it very quickly. The only thing that can run you down here is a bike or tricycle. We have two trikes at our house if you’d like a ride.”
“I would just love it. Will we have any time to talk about your murders if we indulge ourselves shamelessly?”
“We’ll talk first and do everything else afterwards. I’m so glad you’re here, Joseph. It was such short notice I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to come.”
“I had to cancel a vacation earlier in the summer when we had a severe plumbing problem in the college dormitory and I wasn’t able to reschedule it, so I thought I was owed at least a few days. I just love all these little houses and curled-up trees.”
“Ours isn’t so little. It belongs to Melanie’s uncle, and it’s quite grand.” Joseph had met Mel some time ago, uniting the two friends of my two lives. “We’re almost there. This house on the right is where the second murder took place, just out back. The crime-scene tape’s probably still up.”
“It is.”
“And there’s Jack.”
He came toward us with a big smile, and he and Joseph exchanged their hellos. Jack is always very formal with Joseph. Most of his life experience with nuns was in school, where they both taught and terrorized him. He probably deserved some of the terrorizing, but the feelings they inspired have never quite worn off.
“I thought Eddie’d be fast asleep by now,” he said. “It’s getting to be nap time.”
“I think he’s just very excited. You know all the work I did trying to get him to say Joseph? Well, Joseph introduced herself and he’s been yelling ‘Doe’ all the way home.”
Eddie gave us two loud examples, complete with finger pointing, and Joseph laughed.
We showed her to her room and the nearby bathroom, and then I got Eddie changed and ready for his nap. He had worn himself out and was only too happy to roll up in a little ball in the crib and close his eyes.
Downstairs, we briefed Joseph on the two homicides. She had come prepared with several pencils and unlined paper and I gave her a book to rest it on while she took notes. She had positioned herself on the sofa so that she was facing the ocean, and she said more than once that she felt overwhelmed by the place, the house, the view, and the ambience. When all our notes had been exhausted in our narrative, we sat back and waited.
“You certainly seem to have latched on to a connection in the dates of the two fires,” she said finally. “I gather the earlier one was much more devastating.”
“The house was burned to the ground, if what they tell me is true. The Buckley house was saved, although there’s smoke and water damage and holes in the second floor and the roof. I would guess in fifteen years the firemen have learned new techniques or bought better equipment. Maybe that’s what saved the Buckley house.”
“Also, it was larger,” Joseph said. “It was two stories. The Norris house was one floor.” She looked down at her several pages of notes that included two quick sketches of the houses. “The lawyer, Murchison, I gather no one’s spoken to her since the second murder.”
“I tried her home number several times last night and again this morning. She doesn’t answer. The police chief said that the NYPD had spoken to neighbors who said they hadn’t seen her. If she shows up at her apartment, I’m sure there’s someone there to pick her up.”
“But in the meantime she’s disappeared and she’s a suspect.” She looked down at her notes again. “It looks as though the only new source of information, if they have any, will be the Norrises. Do you know if they’re on Fire Island?”
“I checked just after you called from the ferry. A man answered.”
Joseph looked at her large, round-faced watch. “Then I’d say that’s the place to begin.”