"Of course, Louis jumped out of the car before it went over the edge" Heather said, a bit tartly. "After all, he is still alive. Did he blame Flynn for it?"

"Of course not." Beverly answered "He was sure it was Charlie. He tried to tell his sister that Something ought to be done about Charlie. But Leonore would not hear of it. She was the one who blamed Flynn."

-0-

"You said it yourself. He did not come into that kind of money by honest means. He probably has ties to organized crime. It would be very easy for him to hire someone to damage our car."

"Our car is in the garage, and it is locked. There is no forced entry from the outside. But Charlie could get in from the inside"

"You should be ashamed of the things you say about your son."

"They are true. He terrifies me."

-0-

"Dinah and I listened, pretending not no hear" Beverly continued. "We did not know what to make of it. But one thing for sure. Flynn Eagleton was stirring things up… And if things got stirred, we could find something that would help us get away…. So it was that Flynn Eagleton got a very full dance card that day… It started with him going to meet Albert Pruitt."

-0-

"Albert, I know that you lied on the stand."

"And you want me to admit it?"

"The Benchleys paid you to lie. This is how you can own your house, instead of renting"

"You expect me to admit that I committed perjury and go to jail for it? In any case what I could say, that I remember different now? Everyone knows that I am a drunk, and that booze damages your memory. The Benchleys' lawyer would have a lot of fun with me on the stand"

"You lied on the stand!"

Albert Pruitt shrugged "Let me be. You'll get nothing from badgering me. And anyway, why do you care? You are rich now. Do you know how many people would gladly go to prison if it means wealth afterwards? Go enjoy your money and let me and Wendy pinch pennies for our necessities."

"Which include a lot of cheap booze"

"Yes, that too."

-0-

"Dinah and I went to the hotel. Dinah went up to his room. He was not there, which suited Dinah fine… I decided to stay out and pretend I knew nothing about her breaking in. I stayed on the lobby, observing. Flynn was having lunch as Ken Green came to have a word or two with him"

…..

"You have no right to harass the Benchleys as you do." Green said.

Flynn Eagleton shrugged " I have not done anything yet. It just business."

"You cannot make them responsible for your bad decisions"

"Please do not take that tone with me. You know NOTHING of the facts."

"I know that you were convicted and sentenced."

"Convicted with Pruitt's testimony. Tell me, Green, how do you think that Pruitt managed to buy the house he lives in? He does not sell that many paintings, and he drinks a lot of what he makes. How could he afford it?

"He had a legacy from a relative."

"Yeah. Or maybe he was paid for his testimony. Ask that question. How could Albert Pruitt afford to buy a house?"

-0-

"It was then that I laughed aloud" Beverly said "I restrained myself, but not before Flynn saw me. Green left muttering to himself, and Flynn turned to me.

"W -0-hat is so funny?"

"You."

"Why am I funny?"

"Because you are rich. You can do what you want, go where you want, and you choose to come to this dead-end town and pursue a petty revenge, instead of enjoying yourself".

"I spend years in jail."

"Well now you are not locked up. You can be anywhere you choose. Why here? If I had your money I would NEVER come here.

"So why are you here?"

"Because this is my first job, and unless Mrs. Grady gives me a good reference, I might never have a second. I am stuck here, same as Louis Benchley, same as Dinah, same as Mrs. Grady who never leaves the house. You are the only free one here, and STILL come here. It makes no sense."

"Where would you go if you could afford to?"

"New York, San Francisco, Paris, London… there are so many places to see… I would like also to become a professional historian, doing research all over te world, publish books. Instead, I am teaching a budding psychopath and pretending that he is just a mischievous kid."

"Well, maybe I could find a spot for you…"

"In exchange for information?" Beverly laughed "Yes, maybe you will be generous. And maybe you will abandon me if I get caught. I am not that desperate yet to tie my fortunes to a fool who does not enjoy his good fortune."

-0-

"Not a promising beginning for the two of us" Beverly said "but I intrigued him. But then he had to have his last encounter for the day"

"He caught Dinah in his room, I guess" Danny ventured.

"Exactly"

-0-

"What are you doing here?" He barked at Dinah.

"Waiting for you" Dinah tried to look seductive, while hiding the papers she had found.

"For me?"

"I find you… interesting. Not like the men here."

"I see. Oh, your uncle sent you here to seduce me, so that I leave him alone?"

"He has nothing to do with this."

"I knew that Louis Benchley was many things, but to pimp his own niece." He saw where her purse was and threw it to her. "Get out of here!"

"But..." as she grabbed it, she used it to shield the papers in her hand.

"Get out of here before I throw you out, you slut!"

Dinah left making sure that the purse hid what she had. "You do not know what you are missing" she said.

When she came down, she met Beverly "Well, I got some info on him. Let's see what we can use"

-0-

"And then night fell…" Beverly continued

"Which means that Amos was up." Danny said. "In the show he is not there for the first year. I can see why. They wanted him to be mysterious and menacing from the start. Not face the reality of how pitiable he was then"

-0-

Danny could not hide his disgust at the rat corpses littering the floor, with Amos wiping his mouth with the last corpse in his hand.

"Do you have to? Do you need that much?"

"This blood is not enough… I do need human blood… But if I do… if I do, I will take too much, I will kill them, then I would be hunted." He shivered "and they'd lock me in the coffin again"

"I won't let that happen to you. I promised."

"Yes. but they may catch you too and tie you up or. I cannot risk it"

"You took blood from me and did not kill me"

"I recognized you as one who served me. So, I protected you from myself… I do not know if I would stop in time with others."

"Maybe if you took human blood after you gorged yourself on animal blood, you could keep in control. and …" Danny extended his arm. "You can take it from me now. See how much you really need."

-0-

"Yes, it was a long way back for him then. He still was too shaken, too insecure. Not at all the commanding figure the writers created. Of course, the actor then was nervous about forgetting his lines, so the insecurity came through, anyway."

"In any case, I want to tell what happened that night" Beverly continued, irritated by the interruption.

-0-

Beverly was tired. The session with Charlie had been exhausting, as the boy was more stubborn than usual. Thankfully it was over. She could not concentrate on the article she was writing. It was not a groundbreaking article, but a solid one. It would help build her reputation, and maybe one day she could walk away from teaching and this benighted town.

"To think that Eagleton can go wherever he wants, and STILL comes here. He is no better than Leonore who never leaves home, and instead glories in her power over her family…. Fools. They are both fools"

The article was not there. She turned the whole drawer upside down, but it was not there. "I remember putting it here."

… Charlie, she thought. Had to be Charlie….

She went into his room. "Where is it? Where did you put it?"

"I took nothing from you. I never went to your room?"

"How do you know it is missing from my room?"

"You are spying on me, so you can tell Aunt Leonore that I must be punished."

"You took something from me, and I want it back!"

"You have no right!"

Louis came attracted by the commotion. "What is it?"

"He took something from my room, and I want it back"

"I didn't She's mean. She is spying on me and telling tales to Aunt Leonore!"

"Poor innocent baby. Come on, return it before we start looking into your things."

"You cannot!""

"I am your father. I can do it!"

-0-

"And we looked for it. We found it. And we found something else…"

-0-

"So, what is this thing? "Louis lifted it. "This is from my car, isn't it?"

"You are mean!"

"So, you are the one who tried to kill me, don't you?"

"So, Eagleton did not have anything to do with it, then?" Beverly asked.

"As much as it pains my sister, he did nothing this time. And I will have a long talk with my sister about my son"