23 
23 Black our fearful crime must be.
RICHARD D’ALTON WILLIAMS
He clenched his fists in frustration. Things couldn’t have gone more wrong.
Nearing home, he tugged his coat more tightly around him, aggravated by the cold, the odor of smoke he could still smell on himself, and the memory of all the people crowding to help, with that Gant fellow in the midst of them as if he belonged.
Just his luck the outsider would be right there in the house when the fire started. He hadn’t once thought of that. By the time he’d seen Gant’s big red horse, it was too late. The fire was well under way.
His plan had depended on a serious loss and on suspicion falling on the outsider. Instead, Gant ended up looking the hero—manning the pump, helping out wherever he could, the others counting on him, looking up to him. Their faces, shining in the light of the fire, even seemed to show respect for him!
Another plan botched. Nothing was going as he’d intended. Somehow, Gant always spoiled everything.
What was it going to take to get rid of him? Obviously, more than he’d first thought. There had to be something that would force Gant to leave—or at least something that would finally press him to stay away from Rachel and the People.
He stopped at the lane leading up to his house, waiting for a fresh surge of strength and determination to well up inside him. Within minutes, he could feel himself growing stronger, more focused, more dedicated. The failed barn fire was just an obstacle on the path, after all, not a defeat.
Hadn’t he known from the beginning it might not be easy, that most likely it would take more than one or two incidents to accomplish his goal? So he had more to do. He simply needed yet another plan. He was committed to doing whatever it might take to rid their lives of the menace among them—and at the same time make his own life considerably easier.
This much he now promised himself: Regardless of how difficult or how dangerous, he would do whatever it took to get rid of Gant. He wouldn’t be hindered by what hadn’t worked, but instead would look forward to the next event.
And now that he knew Gant’s secret, the next challenge would almost certainly be the final one.