is ridiculous. Not only would Sarah be totally unable to sustain the kind of abnormal strength that would be necessary for such a feat, but even if she could, can you imagine the difficulties in hauling someone your own size down the face of that embankment? You’ve said yourself that it’s tricky for an adult by himself. It sounds like it would be impossible for a child carrying another child of almost the same size.”
Jack thought it over and felt an odd sense of relief. The doctor was right; it didn’t make sense. He and Rose had been overreacting. And why not? The last days had not been easy for anyone in Port Arbello, and Rose and Jack Conger were no exception. He felt a grin come over his face, and it felt good.
“Well, that’s done with, anyway,” he said. “Have you got any other ideas?”
Dr. Belter leaned forward, and his expression took on a seriousness that made the grin fade from Jack’s face.
“Yes, I have. Mr. Conger, have you ever suffered from blackouts? Recently?”
It took nearly a full minute for the implications of what the doctor had just said to sink into Jack’s mind. When it finally did and he grasped what Dr. Belter was suggesting, he had to fight to control himself. Trembling, he got to his feet.
“Only once, Doctor,” he said coldly. “And we both know what happened that time. Since then, never.” He left the doctor’s office without another word, and without waiting for Charles Belter to respond.
“How can you be sure?” the doctor said to the closed door and the empty room. “How can you be sure you never have blackouts?”
It was noon when Jack returned to the paper. He closed the door behind him, and a moment later the red light above his door flashed on. The staff of the Courier looked at one another curiously, but none of them was willing to speculate on what was going on. Instead, they all glanced at the clock and began drifting away to lunch. When the office was all but empty, Sylvia Bannister looked at the closed door. She hesitated a minute, then punched the button on the intercom on her desk.
“I’m going to lunch now,” she said. She waited for an answer, and when none came began putting on her coat She was ready to leave the office when the intercom suddenly came alive.
“Can you spare me a minute?” Jack’s voice crackled through the wire.
Sylvia took off her coat and rehung it on the hook. Then she smoothed her skirt and entered the inner office.
She had been prepared to be cool to her employer, but the expression on his face changed her mind.
“You’re not all right, are you,” she said, making it more a statement than a question. Jack looked up at her, and she was sure she saw tears trying to make their way out of his eyes.
“I just got back from talking to Dr. Belter.”
“I wondered where you went,” Sylvia said, lowering herself into the chair opposite him. “Why did you go see him?”
“I’m not sure, really. I thought I was going to talk about Sarah. About what to do about her. But he didn’t want to talk about Sarah.”
“Oh?”
“He wanted to talk about me.”
“Sylvia smiled at him reassuringly. Is that such a bad idea? We can all stand to talk about ourselves now and then. And you haven’t been having it too easy lately, have you?”
“That wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. He seems to think that I might be the one who’s after the kids.”
Sylvia stared at him in complete disbelief. “You? You must have misunderstood him.”
“No. I didn’t misunderstand him. He wanted to know if I’ve been having any blackouts lately.”
“That is the most disgusting thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Sylvia said, her voice reflecting the sickness she felt in her stomach. “That happened a year ago. Not last week, not last month. A year ago. Thirteen months, actually. Does he seriously think it would happen again now? Three times? Besides, we know where you were when the children disappeared.”
“On the day Kathy Burton disappeared I was in his office, as a matter of fact,” Jack said, smiling thinly.
“Then what’s he trying to do?” Sylvia demanded.
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “But, God, it scares me. If that’s what he thinks, what will the rest of the town think?”
“I haven’t any idea, but I know what I think. I think it’s insane, and I think Dr. Belter needs