his car that effectively blocked the road. If there was anything there, Ray Norton wanted to make sure it stayed there. He didn’t want any evidence obliterated by fifteen cars driving over the soft ground. Norton organized them as best he could, and the men of Port Arbello spread out to search the area. It was ironic that the only person to find anything was Martin Forager.
What he found was tire tracks. They were fresh, and they were of an odd sort As the men gathered to examine them, Jack Conger smiled to himself. The tracks would strengthen his story.
They were preparing to leave the quarry when Ray Norton drew him aside.
“Well,” Jack said when they were sitting alone in Norton’s car, “at least you have something to work on.”
“Yeah,” Norton said, but he didn’t look too hopeful. “I just wonder what those tracks will lead to. If you ask me, well never even find the car that left them. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Jack looked at the police chief questioningly. Norton looked uncomfortable, as if he weren’t quite sure how to begin. He decided that the best way was the most direct way.
“Look, Jack,” he said. “I know what I’m about to say sounds silly, but I have to say it anyway. Or, rather, ask. How much do you know about the old legend about your family?”
Jack tried to smile, but underneath the smile he felt chilled.
“I know there is one,” he said carefully. “What’s it got to do with all of this?”
“Nothing, probably,” Norton said. “If I remember right, there was supposed to be a cave involved, wasn’t there?”
Jack nodded. “Yup. The old lady claimed it was somewhere in the embankment But of course she never claimed to have seen it, except in her so-called vision.”
“Well, what about it?”
Jack looked at the policeman blankly. “What about it?”
“Does it exist?”
“The cave?” Jack said incredulously. “Are you serious? My God, Ray, the cave was never anything but the figment of an old lady’s imagination. If someone told the same story today they’d say she was senile. And they’d be right.”
“But didn’t anyone ever look for it?” the police chief persisted.
“Sure,” Jack said. “My grandfather did. And it cost him his life. That embankment is a dangerous place. It’s steep and slippery and treacherous. Fortunately, we’ve had the legend to keep all the kids away from the place.”
“And none of them ever went to find out if there was anything there?” Norton said curiously. “You know, when I was a kid the one thing I always wanted to do was go look for that cave. But I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” Jack asked. “The embankment was there.”
“Ah, but it was on the Congers’ property. Don’t forget, when I was a kid your family was almost royalty around here. We may nave wandered all over everybody else’s land, but not the Congers’.”
Jack chuckled, remembering. It had almost been like that when he had been a boy. “Well, let me set your mind at rest,” he said. “Of course I went to look for the cave. And I imagine my father did too. But I didn’t find it, probably because it simply isn’t there. If it was, I’d have found it.”
“Okay,” Norton said. “I was almost hoping you’d never looked, and that we could torn the damned thing up. I can’t turn the whole town out searching for it, not when all I have to go cm is an old tale of a senile woman’s visions. We’d probably lose three men in the looking. So I guess it’s back to the quarry. I hope you won’t have any objections to my sending out a crew to drag it?”
“Of course not,” Jack said. “Any time you want. But, God, I hope they don’t find anything.”
“So do I,” Norton agreed. “So do I.”
An hour later Jack Conger was home. He went upstairs to say good night to his daughters, and it seemed to Rose that he was staying much too long with Elizabeth. She was on the verge of going up to see what was keeping him when he came down. When he entered the study he looked tired but he was smiling.
“Well,” he said, fixing himself a nightcap. “If nothing else, at least I’ve bought us some time.”
19
Neither Rose nor Jack slept that night, but they were quiet, each of them with their own thoughts, each of them wanting to postpone the time when they would have to make decisions.