Death and the Maiden by Q. Patrick

Author:Q. Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Published: 2018-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

XXI

Even now I can’t remember the moments that followed with any coherence. I have forced them back, deep into my mind, so that they have no shape, no sequence. They are nothing but a cacophony of sounds, images, sensations—the memory of Jerry’s kiss still warm on my lips and then my own voice screaming, hoarsely out of control. Jerry stooped over the pool, Jerry lifting a girl’s body out of the water, his shoulder squared, his muscles tense. The moonlight gleaming on the golden lamé of Norma’s dress as he laid her down on the soft turf at the fountain’s edge.

I tried to make myself think. I had to get to the gym. Somehow I had to find Lieutenant Trant. I turned my back on the fountain and started stumbling through the moonlight toward the swaying rhododendrons.

That’s when the second phase of blurred memories begins. Suddenly there were people—people streaming through the bushes toward me, burning cigarettes, glimpses of bright dresses, voices, hoarse, curious. “Did you hear the scream?” They came up to me and past me. I couldn’t stop them. Then I felt a hand clutch my arm. I turned dazedly and Elaine was there, her face white, startled in the shadowy light. Nick Dodd was with her.

“Why’s the spot turned out, Lee? What’s happened?”

Her hand still on my arm, Elaine started forward again. I tried to drag her back.

“Elaine, stop. You can’t go there. Nick, stop her.”

Then, somehow, all three of us were on the edge of that group which was staring across the lawn at the ghastly tableau of Jerry stooped over Norma’s body.

Someone gave a stifled cry. Everything was an uproar of harsh voices and quick moving figures. The music had stopped, breaking in the middle of a bar. Then there was a tall man pushing through the throng, hurrying to Jerry’s side.

His voice clear and taut echoed above the babel. “Everyone get away from here at once—everyone.”

Lieutenant Trant!

It was amazing how instantly he was obeyed. Girls and boys started backing away. I lost Elaine and Nick in the near panic of that retreat. All the students were gone now and other men were hurrying up, men in day clothes. The local police.

The voices around me were brisk and official. A flashlight blazed downward, swinging to left and right. In its beam I saw someone hurrying toward me. It was Jerry, his coat stripped off, his shirt gleaming white. He put his arms around me, holding me close.

“Lee, darling.”

“Jerry.”

“Trant says we’ve got to wait. Hudnutt’s coming. We’re all to go to his house.”

Then Marcia was there at our side, a slim white shadow in her white satin gown. “Lee, Jerry, come with me. Penelope has Elaine. She’s driving her back to their place. Robert’s getting my car. We’re all to go, too.”

The three of us hurried around the gym, pushing through the jostling crowds of students who were pouring out from the dance which had so suddenly and terribly been abandoned. Robert Hudnutt was waiting with Marcia’s car.

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