He nudged Tanis ahead and Diana frowned after him.
Lyon said very quietly, "Shall I read these newspaper accounts to you, Deborah?"
She walked like a very old woman toward the French windows, standing there, staring out over the grounds. "God, I tried. I tried so very hard."
"This first one is a year old. It concerns the murder of a young girl in Charlotte Amalie. She was strangled. She was the daughter of a local merchant. It appears to have raised quite a furor. The murderer wasn't found."
He paused a moment, looking at her. She hadn't moved.
He picked up a second newspaper page. "This one is another report of a young girl who was strangled. It is about a year and a half old. Also in Charlotte Amalie. She was a slave. No one appears to have cared too much."
"Stop it!"
"Deborah, why have you kept these gruesome articles?" But he knew the answer. Oh, yes, he knew, and the truth he had sought now made him feel as cold as death.
Deborah slowly turned to face him.
"And those bills you paid to Dr. Gustavus? They were for care of Daniel, were they not?"
"Yes. He knew, you see, and claimed he wanted to help Daniel. He also wanted money."
"And you wanted to get Daniel away from Charlotte Amalie before he was found out? Because surely it was just a matter of time before what he'd done was discovered?"
"Yes. I thought I could control him here on Savarol Island. Oh, God, that little fool, Moira! If only I could have gotten rid of her, once I found out what was going on! If only she'd understood! I warned her, I even threatened her, you remember, the riding crop. But it was too late. She wouldn't listen."
"How many girls did he kill?"
"Five. Over a period of four years. I kept hoping that Dr. Gustavus would help him. He kept Daniel so close, so close. Daniel didn't know that Dr. Gustavus knew his secret. Only I knew."
"But why Patricia? How could you let him marry her?"
"I thoughtno, I believed truly that she would change him. He seemed so very fond of her and she of him. I prayed --- oh, God how I prayed --- it would all cease, that the sickness in his mind would stop. But I soon realized that things were not well with them. It was at that time I met Lucien. No, I didn't marry him for Daniel's sake. I love him."
"But Daniel seems so very normal, so kind and ---" He broke off, still grappling with the truth.
"Yes, he does. I never would have guessed, never, and I am his mother. One evening, some four years ago, I was awake when he came in late one night. He'd killed a girl and he was still in the throes of this strange excitement. He told me everything. Then Dr. Gustavus came."
"And Charles Swanson? He was shot, not strangled."
"It was Patricia's fault!"
"She shot him?"
"No, but it was still her fault. I told you that I soon realized all was not well between Daniel and Patricia. Daniel isimpotent. Patricia told me. She and Charles Swanson became lovers."
"And Daniel discovered it?"
"Yes."
"And he shot Charles Swanson?"
"Yes."
"It is difficult to accept, Deborah. Surely you have realized that Charles Swanson and Edward Bemis were, well, closer than men should be."
"Patricia knew it too. She wanted to change Charles. And she did, for a brief time at least."
"Daniel must be stopped, Deborah."