Must the Maiden Die (27 page)

Cullen pulled up the Morgan beside Glynis
and dismounted. His dirt-streaked face looked tired, his
expression grim, and his first words to her were, "Where's Liam
Cleary?"

"I insisted he go home for supper," Glynis
answered. "But what happened? Did you find the girl, Tamar?"

"We found her all right. But not before two
bounty hunters did." He turned to his deputy and said, "Zeph, get
Sledge into the lockup. Danny, take the body to the ice
house—Abraham Levy said he'd meet you there. And thanks, lad, for
your help."

Glynis took a few steps toward the horse
that Danny Ross was about to lead away, moving in only close enough
to confirm that the body was that of the second bounty hunter.

"C'mon, Gagnon. We're going inside," Cullen
said to the dark-haired man, whom Glynis could now see was Andre
Gagnon's son, Gerard. The young man's hands were bound, and he
looked extremely agitated.

"Cullen, please," Glynis said to him, "tell
me what happened?"

"Let's go into the office," he replied in a
low voice. "I want to keep this out of the newspaper for as long as
I can. But it's probably a lost effort, since the search party
heard the confession."

"What confession?"

Cullen shook his head and strode toward his
office. Glynis gathered in her skirt to pass the black-and-tan
bloodhounds, whose ropy tails were switching back and forth as
they gulped a pail of water. She followed the men into what had
become a crowded room. Zeph was just disappearing with the no
longer grinning Sledge, taking him to one of the holding cells in
the rear of the building. Sledge did not look entirely unwilling to
go, perhaps spurred by the prospect of a square meal.

It seemed to Glynis that Gerard Gagnon was
unwilling to go anywhere. What had he confessed to? Surely not
Roland Brant's murder, as even with his hands bound, Gagnon's
stance was combative as he said angrily, "You can't throw a man in
jail for no reason, Stuart! What charge are you holding me
on?"

"You just killed a man."

In confusion Glynis tried to understand
them. Was this the confession to which Cullen had referred? And
where was the girl?

Adam MacAlistair, who until now had been
unusually quiet, said to Cullen, "It was apparently a clear case of
self-defense on Gagnon's part. Even Sledge admitted that. Zeph said
he saw the whole thing and agreed Gagnon acted in self-defense.
Agreed with no qualification."

"I'm holding you, Gagnon," said Cullen
briskly, as if he hadn't heard Adam, "for interfering with the law,
for harboring a possible fugitive, and for assaulting a deputy.
And in about two seconds, I'm going to add resisting arrest.
Besides," he said, "I'm doing this partly for your own good. Until
you calm down, you're a danger to yourself as well as to the entire
Brant family."

Glynis stared in bewilderment at Cullen. And
when she looked at Gerard Gagnon, his expression was one of
desperation. But so, she assumed, was her own, as by now she was
frantic to learn what had become of Tamar. Who had confessed, and
to what? Apparently, from what was being said, it could not have
been to the death of the bounty hunter.

"I need to be with the girl," Gerard said,
his voice as desperate as his expression.

Cullen replied, "There's nothing you can do
for her now, Gagnon."

"Cullen," Glynis said, "what
happened
to her?"

"She was shot!" Gagnon said accusingly,
"because your constable here thinks she's a killer. As if anyone
could believe a frail girl was capable of murdering that pig
Roland Brant!"

"O.K., that's it!" Cullen said.

"Gagnon, don't say any more," Adam
intervened. "I'll represent you, but for now keep your mouth shut.
We can ask Miss Tryon here to keep you informed of the girl's
condition—"

"Then she's alive?" Glynis broke in.

"She's been taken to the refuge," Cullen
answered, his eyes on Gerard Gagnon, as if expecting the young man
to attack momentarily, bound hands or not. "And Adam, if you want
to represent Gagnon, that's fine with me. But he stays here
tonight, regardless."

Zeph reappeared to say, "Let's go, Gagnon,"
indicating the short hall to the cells.

"Give me a minute," Gerard insisted, and
swung to Glynis. "Miss Tryon, please go to the girl, make sure
she's well cared for. And for God's sake, don't let her be taken
back to the Brants'!"

Despite Cullen's scowl, Glynis nodded. "And
please," Gerard added, "let me know how she is?"

"Yes, I will. Though she's in good hands
with Dr. Cardoza-Levy, I promise you."

Despite her attempt to reassure him, Gerard
Gagnon did not look any less distraught. And Glynis continued to
wonder in what condition the girl was when taken to Neva.
Apparently she would have to see for herself, since no one seemed
inclined to tell her.

When the door had closed behind the other
men, Cullen said to Adam, "That was a surprise—you saying that
you'd represent Gagnon. Isn't that a conflict of interest, since
you and Merrycoyf are law partners, and he's representing the
girl?"

"Let's say I think Gagnon needs a lawyer,
Cullen. Are you planning to press those charges? If so, we'll worry
about a conflict of interest later."

"I doubt that I'll press them, especially if
he's cleared of murder. But Gagnon needs a night or two in jail to
cool down. He's holding every member of the Brant family
responsible for his father's death. And you heard Zeph tell how he
went after that bounty hunter. I'm not saying Gagnon didn't have
good reason. He probably
was
defending himself and the
girl. But he's damn good with a knife, and you just heard his
opinion of Roland Brant—who was stabbed, if you recall. How do I
know Gagnon didn't murder Brant? How do you or anyone else know
that?"

"Presumably the murderer knows," suggested
Glynis. "But will one of you
please
tell me who has
confessed?"

The two men exchanged a look before Cullen
answered, "On the way back here, Tamar Jager all but admitted she
killed Roland Brant."

"Cullen, no. Was she in any condition to
know what she was saying? And what
is
her condition?"

"I don't know the answer to that," Cullen
said. "All I can tell you is that she repeated, 'My knife, my
knife,' over and over again. Gagnon tried to keep her from saying
more—a little ironic, since she was formerly mute—but when I asked
her point-blank about the knife she said, 'My knife killed
him.'"

Glynis grasped at the straw of hope, saying,
"Then she didn't actually admit that
she
killed him."

"No, not precisely," said Adam. "But taken
in its context, it did sound like a confession."

Glynis looked at Cullen. He nodded at her,
then said, "That's why I want it kept quiet for now. The newspapers
will jump all over what she said. And frankly, I think Gagnon's a
good suspect. Could be that's why he tried to shut the girl
up—before she incriminated him. For all I know, they were in it
together. The girl could have let Gagnon into the house Sunday
night or the following morning, and she could have given him the
knife that killed Brant. I can't discount what she said,
Glynis."

Before she could respond, Zeph returned.
"Kept those two as far apart back there as I could," he said.

"See Miss Tryon to the refuge," Cullen told
him. "And she wants to know what went on at the swamp, so go ahead
and tell her." He said to Glynis, "Zeph's the one who saw it
all."

He looked exhausted, Glynis thought. She
started for the door, then turned back to Cullen. "Shouldn't Elise
Jager, the girl's mother, be told?" she asked.

"Yes, now that you mention it," Cullen
answered. "When Liam Cleary gets here, I'll send him to Carr's
Hotel for Mrs. Jager."

Glynis hesitated before she said with
reluctance, "And the father?"

Cullen shook his head. "I thought he might
join the search party, but Erich Brant told me Jager was planning
to leave town."

She shouldn't be surprised, Glynis thought,
given Derek Jager's previous behavior toward his daughter.
Nonetheless, this latest example of his indifference was
disturbing.

She and Zeph left the office with the hounds
trailing them, and as soon as they reached the road, Glynis said,
"All right, Zeph, what happened? But first tell me, how is the
girl?"

"Don't know. We took her straight to the
doc. She was in shock, the doc said. And she took some shot from
that bounty hunter. Doc was trying to work on her when we left.
That's all I know."

His dark, square-jawed young face was somber
in the fading light, his eyes not as alert as usual; he too looked
exhausted. "Where do you want me to start?" he asked Glynis.

"At the beginning."

"Search party split up when we got to the
swamp. Constable and me, and MacAlistair—he isn't exactly a
woodsman—we went on due north. Mr. Levy and the others from town
struck out to the northwest, and the sheriff's deputies were going
as far east as they could before hitting the lake. When Danny Ross
caught up with us—said he had followed the Morgan's hoof prints—we
were about two miles north of Dermont Creek. Danny's a good
tracker."

"Yes, I'd heard that somewhere. So Danny
stayed with you three?"

"Yeah," Zeph answered, and gave her a tired
smile. "He said it beat installing a pump in the laundry."

"I'm sure."

"Anyhow, we knew from your message where to
look. Went on north, and when the dogs started baying we knew
something was ahead. Were almost to Black Brook when we heard a
shotgun. Went off a couple of times. It sounded close. Not too hard
to tell the distance on account of the air being so still—you know,
right before the storm?"

Glynis nodded. Right before the storm.

"The dogs lit out, and we followed them.
Couldn't go straight-away—had to ride around some fingers of swamp
a few times, or we would have gotten to the girl and Gagnon sooner.
Too bad about that."

They turned off Fall Street as Zeph was
saying, "Just by chance, the dogs and I were the first ones
there."

No, thought Glynis; it wouldn't have been
chance. Given the opportunity, Zeph would always take the lead. He
was the one to have on your side in a tight spot.

"I tethered my horse and tied the dogs—they
don't much like a fight unless they're forced into it, and they
can't always tell the good guys from the bad. Anyway, I came in at
an angle behind the bounty hunters," Zeph went on. "If you can
believe it, they were firing at a mound of dirt. The one named
Sledge saw me and put down his gun. His partner, though, a runty
guy, was some yards ahead and looked like he was enjoying himself.
Then I saw a dog come over the dirt mound. That lunatic with the
gun, he shot at it. Right after that, the girl came running after
the dog, and she was screaming something—"

"She was
screaming?
" interrupted
Glynis.

Zeph nodded. "And Gagnon was behind her
yelling—and then that damn bounty hunter shot her. Good thing she
was still in motion when he did, or he would've killed her for
sure."

"Unfortunately I'm not surprised," Glynis
said.

"I started after the guy," Zeph went on, "same time
as Gagnon was running toward him, and Gagnon got to him first. He
was fast—nobody faster, except Jacques Sundown when he's after
somebody—and he, Gagnon, already had this runt on the ground by the
time I reached them. He'd stabbed him a couple of times in the
chest. Must have hit the heart because that bounty hunter died
quick. The constable got there right about then."

"Dear Lord, Zeph. What a nightmare!"

"Yeah, it was. Gagnon got up, shoved me
away, and ran back to the girl and the dog. And that's about it. We
managed to get Gagnon and the girl—he wouldn't let go of her, and
she wouldn't let go of the dog—onto the dead guy's horse. We threw
the body on Sledge's horse until we got to the refuge."

Glynis took a minute to collect her thoughts
before asking, "So there's no question, Zeph, that Gerard Gagnon
acted either in self-defense, or in defense of the girl."

"After that bounty hunter shot the girl and
the dog, he was loading to fire again. He didn't get the chance,
only because Gagnon got to him first. That runty guy was a born
killer. I was sideways to him, and I could see him grinning away
while he was reloading. I thought I'd have to kill him myself to
stop him. So, no, there's no question in my mind."

The refuge was directly ahead, but Glynis
had a few more things to ask. "Zeph, you're very observant, so how
did the girl behave toward Gerard Gagnon? Or didn't you have an
opportunity to notice?"

Zeph paused before he said, "When she was on
the horse, holding the dog, she sort of crumpled up against Gagnon.
Like she felt safe with him. Is that what you mean?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Now, one last
thing. Did you hear what the girl said about the knife? The knife
that presumably killed Roland Brant?"

"Yeah, I heard. Doesn't look too good for
her, does it? She's a little thing, though. Hard to believe she
could have killed Brant, but that's just my opinion." Zeph gave
Glynis a sardonic glance. "And once or twice I've been known to be
wrong."

When they reached the refuge entrance,
Glynis thanked him, then watched him stride toward Fall Street with
the bloodhounds loping beside him. Despite his obvious fatigue, his
shoulders were straight and his gait easy. It made her heart lift,
as it always did, to see the profound change in Zeph—the son of
runaway slaves—over the past years. She prayed he would not become
involved in the war.

The war. For the hundredth time that day she
thought of Bronwen, and of Jacques, already caught up in it, even
here in the North. But since she couldn't endure for long the
thought of either of them endangered, she drew in a breath of the
sweet-smelling night air, then turned and opened the refuge
door.