Friends till the End (24 page)

He closed the door and left.

“I was wrong,” Heather was saying on the phone to Ruth. “Completely wrong. I was sure it was either Isabel or Richard. That was why I wanted to go over there. I asked her all kinds of questions, but she seemed perfectly innocent. And all the time Linus was in the study with—with—”

“Oh, it’s too horrible to think about.”

“You may have saved his life by going in there when you did, Ruth. Really. You’ll never know how grateful we are.”

“Oh, please, Heather. Please—please don’t. Don’t be silly. Anyway, Walter would never have—have done anything to hurt Linus. You know that. Why, he
loved
Linus.”

“You know, I think he did.”

“Of course he did.”

“Still, you were brave, Ruth. Very brave.”

“Oh!” said Ruth, pleased. “Oh! Well … 
somebody
had to do it. That’s what Mr. Woodruff said, when he came by with the detective and Snooky. He said that
somebody had to do it, and I was the best one, because I had the best motive. Can you imagine? The best motive for
blackmail
!” She giggled. “So I agreed, naturally—not that I’ve ever done anything like that before—just my high school play,
George Washington Slept Here,
but I had a very
small
part, not a speaking role at all. And Sam didn’t want me to do it, we had quite a little disagreement, but in the end he saw it made sense. You see, I
wanted
to do it, for him—for Sam, you know. After all, why should he have to work for a murderer?”

“Yes,” said Heather, thinking what a very Ruthlike thing that was to say.

“How is Linus now?”

Heather glanced into the living room. “He’s fine, just fine. Nothing seems to disturb that child. I don’t understand it. It must be all the foods high in B vitamins I give him. He’s stable as a rock. Which is something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Ruth—”

“How’s Harry?” Ruth asked, for once in her life adroitly cutting her off.

“Harry? He says there’s no one to argue with now that Walter is gone.”

Ruth tried to feel some sympathy toward this point of view and failed.

“And Sam?” asked Heather. “How’s he taking everything?”

Ruth felt embarrassed. Sam was in charge of the business now and he was loving every minute of it. Their lifestyle would not change drastically, but at least she no longer had that empty feeling—that terrible envy—inside of her. She could go to the supermarket and not count pennies.

“It’s awful, Heather, but he loves it,” she said, dropping her voice. “And—I can’t help it, either—I feel
happy.
”

“Horrors!” said Heather, smiling.

Maya, Bernard and Snooky sat in a comfortable circle in the living room. There were steaming cups of coffee at their side and each had a different section of the newspaper.
Bernard had the crossword puzzle, Maya had the News of the Week in Review, and Snooky had the television page, which he was reading the way other people read Dostoyevsky.

“Twelve down,” announced Bernard. “Smooth-surfaced yarn, seven letters, blank O blank blank T blank blank.”

“Worsted,” said Snooky.

Bernard looked irritated. “Now how would you know something like that?”

“I just know.”

After a pause Bernard said, “Chagall’s hometown. Seven letters. Starts with a V.”

“Vitebsk.”

“Fourteen across. Five letters, blank M O blank blank. Silvery salmon.”

“Smolt.”

Bernard looked over at his wife in chagrin. “When’s he leaving?”

Maya folded the newspaper. “Bernard,” she said patiently, “if you’re going to ask for help with the crossword, then you can’t complain about getting the answers. I’ve told you: Snooky is good at things like that. It’s about the only thing he
is
good at.”

“In answer to your question, Bernard,” said Snooky, “I’m leaving tomorrow. My bags are packed and ready at the door. I leave, by the way, with a heart dimmed with sadness.”

“Just as long as you leave.”

“His heart is broken,” said Maya cheerfully. “Broken! Based on past experience I give him three days to recover.”

Her brother glanced at her. “You think I’m an emotionally shallow person, don’t you?”

“Three days,” said Maya. “Four, tops.”

Snooky shrugged. “There’s a good program on this Thursday. Do you think William will let me use his TV, or will it be off-limits?”

Bernard made a faint choking sound. “You’re not going to
William’s?
”

“Oh, yes I am. Didn’t I tell you? Another letter has arrived, protesting my lifestyle, and I’ve decided to go directly to ground zero and discuss it with William in
person. Right now I imagine Emily is in a tizzy, trying to figure out what delicacy to cook for me.”

“Emily doesn’t cook,” Maya informed him. “Neither does William. Neither do their kids. They eat out every night.”

“So much the better.”

Misty bumped against Bernard’s leg, asking for a walk.

“Just a minute,” Bernard said absently. “Snooky, one more answer, if you please. My brain isn’t working tonight. Six letters, blank blank I blank blank blank. The clue is, ‘Oak or sumac, in common.’ ”

Maya looked at him disapprovingly over her reading glasses.

“Bernard, you should know that,” she said. “The answer is ‘
poison
’!”

Gloria Dank
is married and lives in New York City.