up, and I have to attend to it today. Apparently they can’t continue with the construction till it’s taken care of.”
Elizabeth had decided to come as close to the truth as possible without telling Sarah of the discovery of the cave the previous day. “I suppose we ought to get started pretty soon,” she said.
They finished breakfast in silence.
Dr. Lawrence Felding watched the two women park the car next to his and slipped the file on his desk into the top drawer. He put on an expression of surprise as Sarah and Elizabeth entered his office.
“What are you doing here?” he said. “Have I lost a day?”
Disappointment was apparent in Sarah’s dark eyes, but she tried to keep her voice light.
“I got kicked out,” she said. “Actually, something came up and Elizabeth has to be out of town for the day. So here I am.”
Felding put on his best puzzled expression. “Why don’t you go get rid of your suitcase, and I’ll have a chat with your sister,” he said.
“The usual ten minutes?” Sarah asked.
“Give me twenty, so I can get all the details.” Felding grinned. The grin disappeared as Sarah left his office.
“Sit down,” he said to Elizabeth. “I had a call this morning from the police chief in Port Arbello. Horton?”
“Norton,” Elizabeth corrected him. “Ray Norton. He came out to see me last night. I guess you weren’t surprised when we drove up, then.”
“No,” Felding said. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.”
“Bad news?” Elizabeth repeated.
“Norton discussed the whole mess with the district attorney up there. He wants to prosecute.”
“Prosecute?” Elizabeth enunciated the word as if she’d never heard it before.
“The D.A. seems to think he can build a case against Sarah. It seems they’ve been storing that arm all these years, and it fits one of the bodies they found.”
“Jimmy Tyler’s,” Elizabeth said softly. “I was afraid of that. When Mr. Norton told me about it last night I assumed that must be whose arm she brought out of the woods that day. But it never occurred to me that they’d still have it.” She looked up, her eyes appealing to Felding for some reassurance. “But I still don’t see—I mean, everybody knows that Sarah was—was—” She faltered, not wanting to say the word.
“Insane?” Felding finished for her. “Of course they do. And, of course, that will be the plea if they try her, and there isn’t a chance in the world that she won’t be found innocent on grounds of insanity. But they say they have to go through the motions, in order to close the case.”
“But what good will it do?” Elizabeth flared. “It won’t bring those children back to life, and it won’t help Sarah. My God, it’ll be awful for her!”
“I know,” Larry Felding said uncomfortably. “But I don’t see any way to avoid it If she hadn’t made so much progress over the years there wouldn’t be any trial. She’d be judged unfit to stand. But, unfortunately, she isn’t. Right now she’s of pretty sound mind.”
“Except she still can’t remember what happened that day,” Elizabeth pointed out. “How can they try her for something she can’t even remember?”
“Well, there isn’t much we can do about it. What we have to do now is tell her.”
“Tell her?” Elizabeth breathed. It hadn’t occurred to her that Sarah would have to be told, but of course she would. Elizabeth tried to get used to the idea. “When?” she asked.
“I think now,” Felding said. “It’s going to be all over the papers by this afternoon, and she’s going to know then anyway. I thought it might help if you were here when I told her.” He smiled and added, “You know, it might just jolt her into remembering what happened. It might turn out that she didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Elizabeth chewed her lip. “That’s true, isn’t it? God, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
A few minutes later Sarah came back to Dr. Felding’s office.
“I’m glad you waited,” she said to Elizabeth. “I was afraid you might leave without saying good-bye.” Then she noticed the strained looks on both Elizabeth’s and Dr. Felding’s faces, and she sank into a chair.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” she said, her eyes flashing from one to the other. “You didn’t have to go out of town today, did you, Elizabeth?” Sarah looked at her sister accusingly. “Well, what is it?” she cried. “Please, tell me what’s happened.”
Larry Felding told her what had happened. What had been found in the