him, in a way, and she was grateful to him. It isn’t easy for Laurel to be intimate with anyone, certainly not with a man. But she really should have had something more than Tom Russo. She’s a remarkable young woman. If she had met her match in life, this dreadful thing wouldn’t have happened.”
“What do you think happened?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. Her hair fluffed out, and caught the light of a car coming up behind us. “After what you said about her possible complicity, I don’t think I ought to speculate about it.”
“I was speculating.”
“You certainly were.”
“But I thought the question ought to be raised. I’m not suggesting that Laurel originated the idea. At worst, she simply went along with it.”
“Why would she?”
“She wanted out, and she was so desperate that any out would do. Assume she did go with someone, and that someone made the extortion call to her parents, with or without herknowledge—it doesn’t follow that Laurel is out of danger. In fact, it works the other way around.”
“You mean if she knows who she’s with, he’s just as likely to kill her?”
“That’s what I mean. He or they.”
“But you’re simply imagining all this,” she said with synthetic scorn.
“What else can I do? I said I wasn’t offering you a theory, just some possibilities. You seem to take them seriously. So do I. Remember, I spent some time with Laurel just before she took off. She was wide open to possibility, ready for anything to happen. And if she ran into someone else in the same condition—”
“The nuclear components would come together?”
Her voice was sober. We climbed the ramp onto the midnight freeway. I was keenly aware that I’d brought Laurel this way a few hours before.
“Speaking of nuclear bombs,” Elizabeth said, in the tone of someone hoping to change the subject, “this isn’t the first time tonight that they’ve come up. My husband was talking about bombing earlier this evening, before I persuaded him to go to bed. I know men aren’t supposed to have hysterics, but he was pretty close to it. Of course, he’s been through a lot more than I have, particularly in the last couple of days. I have to make allowances for that, and for the fact that he’s older.”
She seemed to be having a quiet debate with herself on the subject of her husband’s manhood.
“What did he have to tell you about bombing?”
“Nothing worth hearing, really. If anyone but Ben had said it, I would have laughed in his face. He had the wild idea that perhaps our oil well started leaking because some enemy had planted a small nuclear device in the sea floor. Of course, he was very tired, and he can’t drink—”
“Some enemy of the United States?”
“He didn’t go quite that far. Some personal enemy, or enemyof the company. Or someone trying to make the oil industry look bad.”
“It isn’t possible, is it?”
“No.” Her voice was definite. “I think my husband may be getting a bit paranoid. It’s understandable. He’s a sensitive man, and I know he feels terribly guilty. He told me once himself that he was too emotional to be a naval combat officer. He said he realized it when he saw the official photographs of the fire-bombing of Tokyo. He was appalled by them.”
“Did he have something to do with the Tokyo bombings?”
“No. I didn’t mean that. But this oil thing isn’t his first disaster. It’s the second one that he—that he was made to feel responsible for. His ship the
Canaan Sound
was disabled by fire at Okinawa, and some of his men were lost.”
“Was it his fault?”
“He was the Captain. He naturally assumed responsibility. But Ben has never talked about it. Neither has Jack. I don’t think either of them knows how the fire started.”
“Was your brother Jack aboard the
Canaan Sound?”
“Yes. Jack was a young officer just out of Communications School. Ben arranged to take him aboard, so Jack would be under
“What do you think happened?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. Her hair fluffed out, and caught the light of a car coming up behind us. “After what you said about her possible complicity, I don’t think I ought to speculate about it.”
“I was speculating.”
“You certainly were.”
“But I thought the question ought to be raised. I’m not suggesting that Laurel originated the idea. At worst, she simply went along with it.”
“Why would she?”
“She wanted out, and she was so desperate that any out would do. Assume she did go with someone, and that someone made the extortion call to her parents, with or without herknowledge—it doesn’t follow that Laurel is out of danger. In fact, it works the other way around.”
“You mean if she knows who she’s with, he’s just as likely to kill her?”
“That’s what I mean. He or they.”
“But you’re simply imagining all this,” she said with synthetic scorn.
“What else can I do? I said I wasn’t offering you a theory, just some possibilities. You seem to take them seriously. So do I. Remember, I spent some time with Laurel just before she took off. She was wide open to possibility, ready for anything to happen. And if she ran into someone else in the same condition—”
“The nuclear components would come together?”
Her voice was sober. We climbed the ramp onto the midnight freeway. I was keenly aware that I’d brought Laurel this way a few hours before.
“Speaking of nuclear bombs,” Elizabeth said, in the tone of someone hoping to change the subject, “this isn’t the first time tonight that they’ve come up. My husband was talking about bombing earlier this evening, before I persuaded him to go to bed. I know men aren’t supposed to have hysterics, but he was pretty close to it. Of course, he’s been through a lot more than I have, particularly in the last couple of days. I have to make allowances for that, and for the fact that he’s older.”
She seemed to be having a quiet debate with herself on the subject of her husband’s manhood.
“What did he have to tell you about bombing?”
“Nothing worth hearing, really. If anyone but Ben had said it, I would have laughed in his face. He had the wild idea that perhaps our oil well started leaking because some enemy had planted a small nuclear device in the sea floor. Of course, he was very tired, and he can’t drink—”
“Some enemy of the United States?”
“He didn’t go quite that far. Some personal enemy, or enemyof the company. Or someone trying to make the oil industry look bad.”
“It isn’t possible, is it?”
“No.” Her voice was definite. “I think my husband may be getting a bit paranoid. It’s understandable. He’s a sensitive man, and I know he feels terribly guilty. He told me once himself that he was too emotional to be a naval combat officer. He said he realized it when he saw the official photographs of the fire-bombing of Tokyo. He was appalled by them.”
“Did he have something to do with the Tokyo bombings?”
“No. I didn’t mean that. But this oil thing isn’t his first disaster. It’s the second one that he—that he was made to feel responsible for. His ship the
Canaan Sound
was disabled by fire at Okinawa, and some of his men were lost.”
“Was it his fault?”
“He was the Captain. He naturally assumed responsibility. But Ben has never talked about it. Neither has Jack. I don’t think either of them knows how the fire started.”
“Was your brother Jack aboard the
Canaan Sound?”
“Yes. Jack was a young officer just out of Communications School. Ben arranged to take him aboard, so Jack would be under
Similar Books
