“It shows respect,” Quinlan said. “Can’t you just see all those old folk, stroking their chins as they look down at an old couple they’ve just offed, saying, ‘Well, Ralph Keaton can lay ’em out, then we’ll bury ’em really nice and Reverend Vorhees can say all the right words.’ Yeah, Corey, the whole bloody town. What other possibility is there?”
“This is nuts,” Thomas said. “An entire fucking town killing people? No one would believe that in a million years, particularly since most of them are senior citizens.”
“I believe it,” Quinlan said. “Oh, yeah, I believe it. I’ll just bet it started with an accident. They got money from that accident. It gave them—or maybe just one of them or a couple of them—an idea of how to save their town. And it grew and grew.”
Corey said slowly, “The way they lure victims here is that big advertising sign on the highway.”
“Right,” Quinlan said. “The World’s Greatest Ice Cream Shop. By the way, it is the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.”
He had to make jokes, he had to or else he’d go nuts. Where was Sally? Could Amabel really be protecting her? He had to doubt it.
“Come in and buy your last ice cream cone,” Thomas said. “That’s the bottom line.”
“What about that woman who was murdered? And Doc Spiver?” Corey said.
Quinlan said, even as he was working furiously on the ropes at his wrists, “The woman must have heard something she shouldn’t have heard. They held her prisoner for at least three nights, probably more. She must have gotten her mouth free, because Sally heard her screaming that first night she was here in The Cove. Then, two nights later, she heard her screaming again. The next morning Sally and I found her body. My guess is they had to kill her. They didn’t want to, but they did. They knew it was either the woman or them. No choice really. They killed her. They must have been pissed—they just threw her off that cliff, didn’t bother laying her out or burying her in their precious cemetery.”
“What about Doc Spiver?” Thomas said. “Damn, these ropes are strong. I can’t get even a micron of play in them.”
“Keep working on them, everybody,” Quinlan said. “Now, Doc Spiver. I just don’t know. It’s possible he was a weak link. That as a physician, all the killing had turned him. Maybe the woman’s murder was the last straw. He just couldn’t stand it anymore. He cracked. They shot him in the mouth, trying to make it look like a suicide. Again, they saw it as they had no choice.”
“Jesus,” Corey Harper said, “do you guys know that most FBI agents never get close to the deep shit we’re in now? Some of them never even draw their guns. They spend their whole careers interviewing people. I’ve been told that quite a few agents, when they retire, become psychologists—they’re that good at getting information out of people.”
Quinlan laughed. “We’ll get out of this, Corey. Believe it.”
“You think you’re so bloody smart, Quinlan. How the hell are we going to get free? And a swarm of little old people are going to show up any minute. Do you think they’ll form a firing squad? Or just beat us to death with their canes?”
Corey said quietly, “Don’t, Thomas. Let’s get loose. There’s got to be a way. I don’t want to be helpless when someone comes, and you both know they’ll come.”
“What, dammit?” Thomas shouted. “What the fuck can we do? The ropes are too tight. They even tied us to the wall so we couldn’t get to each other. We’re in the dark. So what the hell are we going to do?”
“There’s got to be something,” Corey said.
“Just maybe there is,” Quinlan said.
Sally’s jaw hurt. She opened and closed her mouth, working it until the pain eased to a dull throb. She was lying in the dark, the only light coming through the open doorway from the hall.
She was alone. Her hands were still tied in front of her. She lifted her hands to her mouth and began to tug with her teeth on the knot.
She was concentrating so hard that she nearly screamed when a quiet voice said, “It’s really no use, Sally. Just relax, baby. Don’t move. Just relax.”
“No,” Sally whispered. “Oh, no.”
“Don’t you recognize where you are, Sally? I thought you’d know right away.”
“No, it’s too dark in here.”
“Look toward the window, dear. Just maybe you’ll see your dear father’s face again.”
“I’m in the bedroom just down the hall from yours.”