Page 72 of Winterset

Anna was warmed by his concern, just as she had been by the way he talked about her visions as if they were something normal and natural, an asset, rather than something to be hidden and denied.

“No, it wasn’t foolish at all. If it would help us find the killer, it would be worth a bit of discomfort for me.”

“I think it would be more than a bit of discomfort,” Reed guessed shrewdly. “I saw the look on your face just now when you were considering it. They must be very difficult for you.”

“They are…rather frightening,” Anna admitted. There was something freeing about being able to talk about her visions to someone. “I—I feel the pain and the terror that they are feeling—or at least a part of it. The way I felt the burst of pain in my head when I was thinking about Kit.”

“Then you certainly shan’t do it,” Reed said in a voice that brooked no denial.

Anna smiled a little. “Don’t you think that it is for me to decide?”

He grimaced. “You are as bad as my sisters. Well, promise me this—tell me you will not try to experiment with your ability unless I am with you, so that I can help you if you need it.”

Anna looked at him. She realized that her visions would be easier to bear if Reed was there with her. His presence would give her strength, make her feel safer.

“All right. I will not try unless you are there.”

Reed nodded with relief, and they returned to their meal. Putting aside the gloomy topic of their research, they talked about lighter and more general subjects as they finished their food.

When they were done, they walked to the records office. There, Reed, looking and behaving every inch the son of a duke, informed the clerk of the records they wished to search, and after a brief and futile protest, the man disappeared into the back and returned some time later, bearing a wide, stiff book fastened by brads.

There was no convenient place to sit, so they stood at the long oaken counter and opened the book, thumbing through the yellowed pages until they reached the inquest they wanted. There were several pages of testimony from witnesses regarding the discovery of Susan Emmett’s body, beginning with the senior Dr. Felton, who expounded on the wounds he had found on the woman’s body. There was nothing in his testimony that had not been included in his notes. Indeed, there was less, as there was none of his speculation about the manner in which the wounds might have been inflicted.

The next witness to testify was the man who had discovered the maid’s body lying beneath a tree at Weller’s Point. As Anna looked at the name of the witness, she stiffened, staring in stunned surprise. The man who had testified about finding the body was Nicholas Perkins.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Did you know Nick found Susan’s body?” Reed asked.

Anna shook her head. “No. I just talked to him the other day. I asked him about it, and he didn’t say a word!”

Her voice had gone up as she spoke, and Reed glanced across the counter toward the clerk who had retrieved the records for them. The man was watching them with unabashed interest. Anna drew a breath.

“Let’s finish this first.”

Reed nodded, and they resumed reading. Nick Perkins had given his testimony, and the coroner had stopped him from time to time to ask a question. Details rolled out about the time and place and position of the body, the manner in which he had found her and what he had done. Anna dutifully read it all, but she could scarcely think about what she was reading. It was a good thing Reed was there, as well, and jotting down notes from time to time. All she could think about was Nick Perkins and the fact that he had told her none of this.

“He never said anything!” Anna exploded when at last they finished reading through the inquest records for both murders and left the building.

“You specifically questioned him about the murders?” Reed asked, frowning.

“Yes. It occurred to me the other day that he had been alive when they happened, and that he was still in full possession of his faculties, so I went over there to talk to him about it. He seemed unusually closemouthed. I had a feeling that maybe he wasn’t telling me everything. But I never dreamed that he was hiding something like this.”

Anna could not understand it. She felt betrayed by someone whom she had regarded as a friend. “Why would he have lied to me—well, as good as lied?”

Reed cast her a sideways glance. “Do you think he knows more about the murders than he told the coroner?”

Anna looked at him blankly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you think Perkins was involved in the killings?”

“No!” Anna gasped. Her hand went to her chest as if to cover her heart. “No, he couldn’t have been. Nick is a kind person. He—why, you’ve seen how he tended to that dog. He has been healing animals all his life.”

“Some people like animals much better than humans.”

“Well, he may feel that way. But he wouldn’t—he couldn’t—kill a person. Certainly not in such a terrible, cold-blooded way.”

“He discovered the body. That could be because he was the one who murdered her.”