Read The Cradle Will Fall for Free Online Page A

possible."

     
     
    Katie started to get up. "I know it's insane, but—" She felt
    Richard's arm steadying her.

     
    "You sure look stiff," he interrupted.

     
    She'd been about to describe the crazy dream she'd had in the
    hospital. His voice snapped her back to reality. What a fool she'd
    have appeared to them. Gratefully she smiled at Richard. "Stiff
    in the head mostly, I think," she commented.

     
    HE COULD not let Edna destroy everything he'd worked for. His
    hands gripped the wheel. He could feel them trembling. He had
    to calm down.

     
    It was ironic that she of all people had seen him drive the
    Lincoln out of the parking lot. Obviously she'd assumed that
    Vangie was with him. The minute she told her story to the police,
    everything would be over.

     
    Edna had to be silenced. His medical bag was on the seat next
    to him. In it he had put the paperweight from his office desk. He
    didn't usually carry a bag anymore, but he'd taken it out this
    morning, planning to put the moccasins in it. He'd intended to drive
    into New York for dinner and leave them in separate litter cans.

     
    But this morning his housekeeper, Hilda, had come in early.
    She'd stood talking to him while he put on his tweed overcoat. He'd
    had no chance to transfer the moccasins from his Burberry to the
    bag. No matter. He'd get rid of the shoes tomorrow night.

     
    It was a stroke of luck that Edna lived quite near the hospital.
    Several times he'd dropped off work for her when she was laid
    up with sciatica. That was why he knew her apartment. He'd make
    it look like a murder committed during a felony; take her wallet,
    grab any bits of jewelry she had. Once, when he'd left some work
    at her place, she'd shown him a butterfly-shaped pin with a
    minuscule ruby, and her mother's engagement ring with a dot of a
    diamond in it. She kept them in a plastic jewelry box in the night-
    table drawer.

     
    He thought about the apartment. How would he get in? Did he
    dare ring the bell? Suppose she wasn't alone?
    But she would be alone. He was sure of it. She was going home
    to drink. He could tell. That's why he waited a few hours before

     
     
    coming. So that she'd be drunk. Watching her from the corridor,
    he'd seen how agitated she was, obviously filled with the stories
    she wanted to tell to the police tomorrow.

     
    He was driving into her apartment area. She lived on the
    ground floor at the end of her building. Thick bushes and a rusting
    chain link fence separated the complex from a steep ravine that
    dropped down a dozen feet and terminated in railroad tracks.

     
    Edna's bedroom window backed onto the parking lot. By now
    she must be very drunk. He could go in and out by the window.
    That would lend credence to a burglary.

     
    He parked his car, then pulled on his surgical gloves. He put the
    paperweight in his coat pocket and slid cautiously out, closing the
    door noiselessly.

     
    Edna's bedroom shade was pulled down most of the way, but
    she had a plant in the window. The shade rested on the top of the
    plant, and he could see in clearly. The room was partially lighted
    by a fixture in the hall. The window was open a crack. She must
    be in the living room. He could hear the faint sound of a television
    program.

     
    Glancing about to make sure that the area was deserted, he
    raised the window, pulled up the shade, carefully lifted the plant
    out onto the ground. He hoisted himself up to the sill.

     
    He was inside. In the dim light he observed the virginal tidiness,
    the crucifix over the bed, the lace runner on the dresser. Now for
    the part he detested. He felt for the paperweight in his pocket and
    began to tiptoe down the short hall, past the bathroom, to the
    living room. Cautiously he peered in. The television set was on,
    but the room was empty. He heard the sound of a chair creaking.
    She must be at the table in the dinette. With infinite care he moved
    into the living room. This was the moment. If she saw him