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Just the fact, she said slowly, that we both know he s at the
bottom of it somewhere. Mr. McHugh felt it too. He said that if we
ever really understood Robert Counsel we d see the answer to it.
Yes. I know that, Reno said. But why? Let s look at it objectively.
He couldn t be here unless he s dead, because he s too well known.
And if he s dead, he couldn t have shot Mac, or set off those
explosions we heard today, or chased us out of there with a rifle, or
Go Home, Stranger 101
moved that trailer He stopped, suddenly conscious he had
forgotten about that.
Trailer? she asked, puzzled.
Yes. Don t you remember when you came up in your boat while I
was peeking at something with the rod, with my head under water?
Yes. But what?
That was a boat trailer. And it almost had to be the one Counsel
was pulling. But when I went back the next morning to pull it out, it
was gone.
Oh. Her eyes widened with comprehension. I see it now. You
thought I knew what you d found and moved it, or told somebody
about it.
Frankly, yes. It was the obvious guess. But you didn t even mention
it to anybody? I mean, that you saw me there.
No, she said.
She was telling the truth. There was no doubt of that. Then
somebody else saw me, he said.
She turned suddenly, and her eyes were full of excitement. Max
Easter!
What!
He was right around that next bend. I remember now. I hadn t
heard his motor start.
What was he doing up there? Reno demanded swiftly.
Fishing. I was sketching him, until the light failed. He must have
been still there.
All right, Reno said. He went on, talking fast, his eyes growing
hard. So Easter has to be our boy. Counsel disappeared off the earth
at that spot, so far as we know.
But Easter doesn t know that anybody ever trailed him that far. The
only thing he could see was that I was about to uncover the trailer and
stumble on the fact that Counsel had been there. So he moved it, to
cover up the evidence. Counsel was dead, but he didn t want anybody
to find out. You can see what that adds up to. And I suppose you know
about Counsel and Easter s wife.
Yes she said. I ve heard that. They still talk about it around here.
But, Pete, you re looking for the man who killed Mr. McHugh, and I
don t think it was Easter.
Why?
Go Home, Stranger 102
Because Mr. McHugh was shot right at one o clock in the morning,
according to the papers. It was about twenty after one when I got
back to the camp, and I saw Max Easter s pickup truck come out onto
the highway just as I turned in. So he couldn t possibly have been in
town at one. I m sorry, Pete.
He felt the whole thing come crashing down on him again. For
almost a minute he d been certain he was very close to the answer.
You re sure it was Easter? he said wearily.
I m positive it was his truck. I ve seen it lots of times.
But you didn t actually see who was driving it?
No. It was too dark. But it s not likely anybody else would be.
He sighed. All right. But how do we get away from the fact that it
almost had to be Easter who moved that trailer?
We can t. That s the terrible part of this whole thing. As soon as
you learn something you turn up another fact that denies it. I ve
studied Easter a long time. He has posed for me, and I ve had him
guide me a lot. He tolerates me, but I think he hates women, or is
contemptuous of them, probably because of his wife s leaving him.
He s intelligent, self-educated, radical, and very bitter, and I believe
that if he were convinced Robert Counsel had wronged him, he d kill
him with no regret. But I don t believe he d try to hide it. He d do it
openly, with nothing but contempt for the consequences.
Sometimes I ve been so afraid of him I get cold all over, knowing
what he d do if he had an idea I was spying on him. I ve seen him
staring at me with those cold, utterly emotionless eyes of his, and
wondered what he was thinking She shivered.
Not any more, Reno said flatly. You don t go anywhere with him
alone again. We re in this together now, and you can t take any more
chances like that.
She faced him quietly. I m glad we are, Pete. I dont feel so alone
now.
It was strange, but he knew what she meant. He felt jt himself. It
was as if he d never been conscious of being alone in all his self-
sufficient existence until this moment had called it to his attention.
Did you have any particular reason to think Easter was mixed up in
that boat explosion? he asked.
No, she said. Except that explosives had been his trade. And
those theories Hutch Griffin told you about. But I ve never had
anything to go on. I ve just been groping blindly.
Go Home, Stranger 103
He nodded. The same as I have. And that s the reason you followed
me?
Yes. I was beginning to have an idea of what you were up to, but I
wasn t sure. And when I saw where you were heading, I began to
wonder if you knew something I hadn t found out yet. You see, I think
Robert Counsel is up there somewhere.
What!
If he really vanished, as you say, I don t think it was down there
where the trailer was. He was up there where we were today. That s
where I found this.
Found what? He stared. She was fumbling in her purse now.
Here, she said.
He took it, and felt the skin prickle along the back of his neck. It
was a silver cigarette lighter with the initials R.C. engraved on one
side. He was conscious of an eerie feeling that at last he had put out a
hand and touched the elusive and mysterious figure he had sought so
long.
Where d you get this, Pat? he demanded.
I found it. Just beyond where you swam the bayou.
When?
Three days ago. I was up there with Max Easter.
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