"You think Walters stole them?" she asked.
"So far, I'm inclined to. Have you told any of the others, yet?"
"Oh, Lord, no! They'd all be sure that I stole them myself. I'm counting
on you to get them back with as little fuss as possible. Do you think
that was why Rivers was killed? After all, when a lot of valuable pistols
disappear, and a crooked dealer is murdered, I'd expect there to be a
connection."
"There could be. Did you ever hear any stories about Mrs. Rivers and this
young fellow Gillis who works in Rivers's shop?"
Gladys laughed. "Is that rearing its ugly head in public, now?" she
asked. "Well, there's nothing like a good murder to shake the skeletons
out of the closets. Not that this particular skeleton was ever exactly
hidden. The stories are numerous, and somewhat repetitious; Cecil and
Mrs. Rivers would be seen together, at roadhouses and so on, at what they
imagined was a safe distance from Rosemont, and it was said that when
Rivers was away over night, Cecil was never seen to leave the Rivers
place in the evenings. Might this be relevant to Rivers's sudden demise?"
"It could be." Rand was keeping one eye on the hall door and the other on
the head of the spiral stairway. "Don't mention outside what I told you
about Farnsworth having this brainstorm about Stephen Gresham.
Pages:
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212