The sheriff froze, then turned his head away, backed up two feet, and sidled towards the door and went off into the hall and out the front, muttering that nobody at Blackwood Farm had a lick of sense, and, it was such a crying shame that the house would now go to rack and ruin, yes, indeed, RACK AND RUIN! Slam went the door. No more sheriff.
"Well, I think I'd better be going along," said Grady Breen in a cheery loud voice, "and I'll get you a copy of the coroner's report first thing. " He made for the front door so quickly that he might have suffered a heart attack later in his car. (But he did not. )
Meantime, Tommy ran to Quinn and threw his arms around him. Nash looked on helplessly.
This caught Quinn very much off guard. But he at once reassured the boy.
"Don't you worry about anything," he said. "You go on back to Eton. And when you come home, Blackwood Farm will be here, always, safe and sound and beautiful as it is now, and making lots of people happy, with Jasmine and Big Ramona and everybody, the same as it is today. "
The Shed Men murmured that that was certainly the case. And Cyndy the Nurse said it was true. Big Ramona said, "Yes, Lawd. "
Now Jasmine saw that she was needed, and, giving her face a final wipe with her handkerchief, she released her grip on me, received a little torrent of my kisses and went to put her arms around Tommy.
"You come on in the kitchen with me, Tommy Blackwood," she said. "You too, Nash Penfield, I've got a pot of stewed chicken on the stove; you too, Cyndy . . . "
"Youhave a pot of chicken on the stove? Who is this 'You'?" asked Big Ramona, "that'smy pot of stewed chicken. And just look at this Mona Mayfair, why the child's totally recovered. "
"No, no, you all go on," said Mona, rising and gesturing for them to leave us. "Quinn and Lestat and I have to talk. "
"Little Boss," said Jasmine, "I'm not sleeping downstairs in that house. I've moved upstairs with Jerome and Grandma, and I'm locking the shutters over the windows. Patsy's after me. "
"I'll find her out there," said Quinn. "Don't worry. "
"Does she come at any certain time?" Mona asked very kindly.
" 'Bout four in the morning," said Jasmine. "I know 'cause she stops the clock. "
"That's about right," said Quinn.
"Now, don't you start again with that!" Jasmine rebuked him. "Now they found all those letters and they think she shot herself, you're off the hook, now cool it!" And she pulled Tommy away with her.
"But wait a minute," said Tommy, at once clabbering up and losing a little of his manly dignity in the pure sadness of a child. "I really want to know. " He swallowed. "Quinn, you didn't kill her, did you?" It was heartbreaking.
For a long moment everyone was silent, and then Quinn said:
"No, Tommy, I didn't. It's important that you believe me, that I would never do a thing like that. It's just, I wasn't kind to her. And now she's gone. And I feel sad about it. And as for the sheriff, I don't much care for him, and so I said mean things to him. "
It was the most perfect of lies, executed with such determination that it shone in the darkness of Quinn's thoughts as it was uttered. It was inflamed with the vibrant love that Quinn felt for Tommy. His hatred of Patsy was as intense as ever. That her ghost was on the prowl infuriated him.
"That's right," said Jasmine. "We just all wish we'd treated her better. She was an independent person, wouldn't you say now, Little Boss, and sometimes we didn't understand her. "
"Very well put," said Quinn. "We didn't try hard enough to understand her ways. "
"Of course Tommy understands," said Nash. "We all understand. Perhaps I can explain this a little better, if Quinn will allow. Come, Tommy, let's have some supper in the kitchen. Now that Quinn's here, there's nothing to worry about any longer, and Miss Mayfair, if you'll allow me to say, you do look absolutely lovely. It's marvelous to see you again, and so fit. "
"Thank you, Mr. Penfield," said Mona, as if she wasn't a wild beast.
But Quinn's face was very dark, and as soon as the room was empty except for the three undercover monsters, we drew together.
"Let's go upstairs," said Quinn, "I really need your advice just now, Lestat. I have to figure out some things. I have some ideas. "
"You know I'll do anything I can," I responded.
I calculatedly ignored Mona in her penitential black, who led the way up the circular staircase.
Chapter 22
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