Twillyweed (39 page)

I didn't mention the dinghy. Let them all think the bastard had fallen. The sound of the chopper came close like a scene out of Afghanistan, curling and beating the wind.

Chapter Ten

Claire

The human spirit. It's amazing. That day they carted her out—I have to be honest—I never thought Annabel would make it. I thought she'd had it, or at least that they'd amputate her foot. But at that rehabilitation center over at St. Francis, they got her through it.

I was there when we told Oliver she was still alive and had been held captive by Teddy. It was Detective Harms and I at the dock. Oliver had pulled up in a frenzy of boaters, unaware of anything that had gone down. He'd only come in fourth in the race and he looked pretty sore. The detective went on board and I couldn't hear what he said, but all of a sudden Oliver sank to his knees and started up a wail like a banshee and he threw his arms around the detective's knees and held him and held him like he was afraid they'd all go overboard.

Unbelievable.

So Oliver has his heart's desire back and he'll never let her go again. To this day he says he wakes up and checks she's there, so amazing it is to him. He won't gamble anymore either, or so he says. We'll see.

One day I got to sit with Annabel at the hospital, and I had the chance to speak to her alone for the first time. “Annabel,” I asked her, looking over my shoulder and hoping nothing would interrupt us, “I know you're not supposed to get upset, but I have to know. That day when you left Oliver, how did Teddy get to you? How did that happen? Do you mind talking about it?”

“No, I don't mind. I never left Oliver.” She touched her heart. “That night … oh, I was angry at him, all right. He'd gambled away the money we'd planned for refurbishing the bedrooms. I was furious.” She shook her head adamantly. “But I would never have left him. And I certainly wouldn't have left Wendell! Teddy had played a dirty trick on Noola and I knew about it. He'd tried to get rid of her cat, and when Mrs. Dellaverna caught him, he tried to lay the blame on her! But I knew what he was up to because Wendell had seen the whole thing and he'd told me. At first I didn't believe him, but he was too innocent to have made it up. I just knew he wasn't lying. I told Wendell not to say a word. I made him promise. I was going to fix Teddy's wagon.” She shook her head. “Oliver and Paige were always defending Teddy. You couldn't blame them. They felt guilty. I know they did, because they were always pushing him off. They didn't want him around. The truth is, they were afraid of him. He used to set fires under their cars when he was a kid … things like that. I should have known from that how dangerous he was. And he—their brother's son! But that night I wasn't speaking to Oliver or I would have told him I was going down to the marina. I was so angry I wasn't even afraid of the water. I found Teddy on his boat. He pretended he was glad to see me. ‘Come aboard!' he said. ‘Give me some decorating ideas.' I went on board. I did give him some ideas. That boat is a classic. But then I told him I knew what he'd done and if he didn't make it up with Mrs. Dellaverna and Noola, I'd tell Oliver. He laughed at me, said he was allergic to the cat and was just trying to drive it away, that the cat was making his life a misery. I didn't know what to think. Everything I said he had an answer for. He complimented me. I was flattered.”

Yes, I thought, he'd flattered me, too. He knew just how to do it.

She swept a hand through her extraordinary red hair. “He started talking about the jewels, the Cupsand family jewels. He even said they belonged to him! I got angry. I threatened him. I told him he'd never get his hands on the jewels because they were safe in the sea captain's trunk at Twillyweed and Oliver would never let him have them. If only I'd told someone where I'd gone. Anyone! But I made my great mistake. I started to leave. ‘Oh, don't go,' he said. I told him I had to get back because nobody knew where I'd gone. I had no idea he would become so cruel. But I thought I could handle everything on my own. And he seemed to change, to become reasonable. He asked me to help smooth things over with Oliver. And then I guess I started to feel sorry for him. Everyone was always so down on him. His life was so difficult. No one understood him. I let my guard down. We had a drink. I don't know what was in that drink.” She looked away. “Since then I've tasted that drink many times,” she went on, intent, whispering, “You see, he saw his chance. After he knocked me out, he went back to Twillyweed, upstairs into Captain Cupsand's room, and he stole the jewels. Then he went to my desk and took my letter paper. He made me write Oliver that I was leaving him. I was so drugged. I knew what I was doing, but I knew he was dangerous by then. He threatened Wendell if I didn't do what I was told! The next thing I knew I was waking up in that strange, cold place. It was a nightmare. The walls were so damp. I never could get warm.” She gripped my arm. “Sometimes it was so cold! When I wouldn't
behave
, as he called it, he would put on his gloves, those horrible, beautiful gloves. He never wanted to get his hands
dirtied
.”

Shocked, I thought we'd better stop, but she went on, “The next day after Oliver found my letter and they all were in a frenzy, Teddy made sure they looked to see what I'd made off with.”

“To think he had you write the letters! But why did you—”

“He dictated them to me. Oh, it was so horrible. He told me if I didn't write just what he said, he'd bring Wendell there as well. Little Wendell! And he meant it.” She dropped her face in her hands, recalling. She blew her nose into a tissue. “And of course he was the one who started the rumor I'd gone off with Doctor Varanasi. When he ran out of my letter paper, he just went back to the house. It just so happened Doctor Varanasi was leaving Long Island when Teddy ran into him on the train. Teddy was on his way into the city to mail another letter from me, and Varanasi, asking about me, fell right into his plans. He was heading down to Virginia to see what it would be like to open a practice there. Teddy told everyone who'd listen I'd told him I was falling in love with him. He'd already heard Morgan was sailing down to Virginia to bring back the chandelier Oliver had won in a card game—it was the perfect opportunity. He volunteered to go down and help him get it. That's when he posted that terrible letter. Can you imagine? He
told
me all this. Oh, yes, he told me everything. He would go on and on. He would bring me food from the restaurants where he would work and he would rant and rave. He knew if he laid low for long enough, he'd be rich. He'd sell the jewels, but not yet. He had to wait and find an unscrupulous buyer. ‘One day,' he would say, ‘somewhere overseas.' But he had time—and he couldn't have suspicion cast upon him. He couldn't let me go. And he had to keep me well enough to write the letters.” She studied me with those watery blue eyes. “You'll think he abused me all the time. I mean physically, sexually.”

“No,” I lied.

“Yes, they all think that. But he never did. I swear it. He was a voyeur. He only wanted to watch from his closet. He would …”—she closed her eyes—“abuse himself while he would watch me. And he would only find relief when he saw fear, real fear in my eyes.” She shuddered, remembering. “His perversion wasn't only sex, Claire. It was avarice.” She said the word in three drawn-out syllables. “He wanted what he imagined everyone else had, everyone but him. He would rave about it. Avarice!” she whispered, her eyes popping, scaring me. “I was his listening stone. That's what he called me.”

Her voice grew hoarse. I had to move closer to hear her.

“In the early days when Teddy had me captive, when I still believed he'd one day let me go once he had enough money, Daniel went to visit Noola, Morgan's mother, and Teddy went along. It was an Easter visit. Daniel took her cake and tea and things from Paige. Teddy always went along to see what he could get out of it. Sometimes Noola would slip him money. Noola mentioned she'd read in the obituary that a Father von Ritasdorf had passed away and she must remember to tell Morgan about it. Father von Ritasdorf was a horologist—you know, a timepiece expert—and she had knowledge that the priest kept a fabulous volvelle, a moon dial from the 1600s, in the rectory in Broad Channel. It was worth a fortune, she told Daniel. And there it was just sitting there where any criminal could walk in and take it! The
minute
he heard that Catholic priest in Broad Channel had this moon dial, Teddy's plan began to take shape. He'd always waited for an opportunity to get the family jewels, but, it came to him, why stop at the family's jewels when he could have Morgan's heart's desire, too? He saw his chance. He was aware of her weak heart. He and Daniel said good-bye. ‘Don't forget to lock the door' were her last words, but Teddy didn't lock the door. He left it open and he came back alone, slipped in, and put six pills in Noola's tea before she could inform Morgan. He killed her to keep her quiet. He didn't even hesitate. He just did it. That's why they couldn't place the rest of her medication and thought she'd done it herself. And then he went down to steal the volvelle. He brought it here for a while. I saw it. After he told me he'd murdered Noola, I knew he would kill me, too, eventually, when he was through with me writing letters. He'd have to. I remember he dumped everything inside the volvelle onto the floor and held it up like he'd won a trophy. But he foolishly took the lot to Daniel's house and hid it there. And then something he hadn't counted on happened. Patsy Mooney discovered his treasure.”

“That's about when Jenny Rose and I came to Sea Cliff.”

“Yes. Just before.”

“But how did she get involved in the first place?”

“One night Patsy was walking home from the rectory where she'd left Darlene Lassiter. They'd been to Atlantic City on the bus. It was late. She walked past Daniel Cupsand's house along the beach. All the lights were off, but she happened to notice a light from the basement. She knew Daniel was an early riser and couldn't imagine what he was doing up at that hour. She walked over and peered in the window. But as she drew closer she saw it wasn't Daniel at all but his son, Teddy. He was sitting at the old model train table. And on the table lay an assortment of odd and compelling items, things that might certainly have been valuable. One of those things was a statue and Teddy was prying the jewels from its eyes. She wasn't sure what she was seeing. She went home and must have thought it over.

“The next day, Patsy made Daniel some custard and returned. While Daniel was busy eating in front of the television set, Patsy went below and found the moon dial. She must have been astonished to see the Cupsand family jewels. Of course she took it all. She put everything in an orange crate and carried it up the stairs. But Daniel had finished his custard and was coming to ask for more just as she was making off with the loot. Daniel blocked her exit and wouldn't let her out of the house. She froze. She didn't know what he would do. But she saw his eyes light up at the statue. She took it from the crate and dropped it down the stairs. He went after it. He didn't want any jewels or the volvelle; all he wanted was the statue because it looked like some doll he used to carry around that Teddy had taken away from him. He stood at the bottom of the stairs crooning to the blind thing. It wasn't worth anything to Patsy, but it was precious to Daniel. Daniel loved the statue but when Teddy saw him with it, he flipped out. He hit him, smacked him hard, until Daniel told him Patsy Mooney had been there. Teddy almost burst a blood vessel when he discovered Patsy Mooney had made off with his stash, the volvelle,
and
the family jewels!” Annabel croaked a bitter laugh and wrapped her shawl closer around herself. “He raved for days and nights! I was almost glad, because he never tortured me during that time. But he went after Patsy. Teddy confronted her and she admitted it. She even taunted him with it. She told him the whole story. But he couldn't do anything about it because he didn't know where she'd hidden the lot. After all I've been through, the worst of it is that Teddy strangled poor Patsy Mooney, trying to get her to tell him where the treasure was when all the while the key to it was on a chain around her neck and he had no idea. The uselessness of it!”

“Yes,” I agreed, “but if she hadn't been greedy, she'd still be alive.”

“No doubt. He told me she was blackmailing him. Because she didn't want the jewels, she wanted money. She didn't know anyone in that world.”

“And in the end,” I finished for her, “it would mean her death.”

“Death.” She tasted the word. “How close I was to that. How many nights I died inside.”

I lifted a paper cup of water to her lips. She didn't look too good. But she still had that big red hair that trailed to her waist. I took hold of her cold, small hand. “Don't talk about it anymore,” I said.

“It's just a pity Teddy had to die,” she murmured.

“Oh, yeah,” I agreed, “he should have lived so he could pretend to be nuts and then write a tell-all book they could make into a movie on Thursday night and then one day he'd get out and take some other poor woman prisoner. Come on! It's good he's gone.” I held Annabel's hand and squeezed it. Just to look at her, so wretched but alive, was still a kind of miracle. What the human being can be put through, as she'd been, and then to return to normal life—to survive!

She surprised me by saying, “You don't understand. I just would have liked for him to have felt what it was like, what prison is like.” She smiled at me, a line of reproach on her mouth, plain and vindictive. She licked her lips, still chapped. “I wanted him to feel what he put me through. I would have loved to visit him. He wasn't crazy, you know. He was sane. He was just”—she paused—“empty. He was evil with a covetousness he could not let go. ‘Why must Morgan be the one to have it all?' he would say, again and again. Fixated. It was all about Morgan. You see, he would talk to me all the time, on and on; he thought Morgan was the insidious one, always lucking out, always the accumulator, the collector, and the hoarder, until there was nothing left for anyone else. If I objected—even so much as a look on my face he
thought
was objecting—he'd whack me with a gloved fist. He was so jealous, eaten up with lust to get that one thing Morgan wanted, the volvelle, the moon dial. One day he was in such a rage he dumped the contents of the volvelle on the floor. All those jewels in a tumble on the filthy floor!” She held up her lavender rosary. “That's how I got my beads. I almost tore my foot off reaching for it before he threw everything back in. I hid it. I clung to it whenever he was gone.” Her eyes shimmered. “I begged Our Lady to save me. She did.”