eyes, during his brief and brilliant glory days, and he,ll be sentimentalized as a tragic figure - rather like the Elephant Man, in the end."
Jim said not a word.
Reuben wandered out to the kitchen where the sheriff stood with his thirteenth cup of coffee, talking to Galton about the werewolf legends around "these parts" that hadn,t been heard in many a year.
"Now, there was an old lady up here, a crazy lady, years ago, in this house. I remember my grandmother talking about it. She sent word down to the mayor in Nideck, that there were werewolves in these woods - ."
"I don,t know what you,re talking about," said Galton. "I,m older than you and I never heard any such thing - ."
" - claimed the Nideck family were werewolves. I meant she went screaming crazy up here, insisting - ."
"Oh, your grandmother made that up."
And so forth and so on.
Stuart had disappeared with Margon Sperver. And Baron Thibault was assisting Laura as she arranged the last of the Fig Newtons and coconut macaroons on a pretty flowered china plate. The kitchen smelled strongly now of fresh-cut apples and cinnamon tea. Laura looked emotionally threadbare but she obviously liked Thibault enormously and they,d been conversing all evening in low voices as the party rolled on. Thibault was saying to her, "But all morality is of necessity shaped by context. I,m not talking relativism, no. To ignore the context of a decision is in fact immoral."
"Then how exactly do we define immutable truths?" Laura asked. "I do see exactly what you,re saying but I lack the skills to define how we construct moral decisions when context is continually shifting - ."
"By recognizing," said Thibault, "the conditions under which every moral decision is made."
Some people were leaving.
The official interviews were winding down.
The sheriff reported that the search for the Man Wolf around Nideck had been abandoned. And he was just getting word that Jaska and Klopov had both been wanted by Interpol for questioning in a number of open cases in Germany and France.
Someone had gotten a clear and unmistakable series of shots of the Man Wolf south of San Jose. "Looks like the real thing to me," said the sheriff checking his iPhone. "That,s the same devil all right. Take a look. And how could the critter have gotten that far that quick?"
The forensics teams had called to say that the crime scenes could be released.
Finally, the party began to break up.
The family had a plane waiting for them at the nearby airport. Reuben walked with his mother to the door.
"These friends of the Nidecks,, they,ve been invaluable," she conceded. "I like that Felix very much. I thought Arthur Hammermill was in love or something when he went on and on about the man, but I understand now. I do."
She kissed Reuben tenderly on both cheeks.
"You,ll bring Stuart in to see Dr. Cutler for his shots."
"Absolutely, Mom. Stuart,s my little brother from now on."
His mother looked at him for a long moment.
"Try not to think about all the unanswered questions, Mom," said Reuben. "You taught me once that we have to live with unanswered questions all our lives."
She was surprised. "You think I,m worried, Reuben?" she asked. "You don,t know what this night has done for me. Oh, it,s been ghastly, yes. It was the Day from Hell and the Night from Hell. But someday I,ll have to tell you all about my worries, what they actually were." She shook her head sadly. "You know, medicine can confound the most rational of human beings. We doctors witness the inexplicable and the miraculous every day. You wouldn,t believe how relieved I am now about a lot of things." She hesitated, but then said only, "A surgeon can be as superstitious as anybody else."
They walked in silence to the waiting van.
He embraced Jim warmly, and promised to call soon. "I know the burden you,re carrying," Reuben whispered to him. "I know what I,ve put you through."
"And now you have a houseful of these creatures?" Jim asked in a hushed confidential voice. "What are you doing, Reuben? Where are you going? Is there any turning back? Well, they,ve snookered everybody, haven,t they? And what now?" Immediately he was sorry, terribly sorry. He hugged Reuben again.
"This gives me time and space," said Reuben.
"I know. It takes the heat off you and that kid. I understand that. I don,t want anyone to hurt you, Reuben. I can,t bear the thought of them catching you, hurting you.