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“Must have been a fast round,” Owen said.
Arthur’s gaze turned wary. “Why do you say that?”
Amy held her breath as Owen removed the incriminating envelope from his pocket.
“Because you finished in time to visit the library, didn’t you?” Owen said.
Arthur stared at the envelope. Then he raised his eyes to meet Owen’s unrelenting gaze. His expression crumbled into weary despair. “How did you find out?”
“Amy and I were in the library at the time. We saw you go into the restroom. I went in after you and found this.” Owen glanced at the envelope. “I thought maybe you’d like to talk about it.”
“There’s not much to say now, is there?” Arthur sank down heavily into an armchair. “If you’ve got the money, that means the blackmailer didn’t get his payoff. He’ll reveal the truth, just as he threatened to do in his first note.”
Owen went to stand in front of Arthur. “What happens if he does reveal the truth, Crabshaw?”
“Madeline Villantry will be humiliated in front of her family and the entire town.” Arthur sighed. “And I seriously doubt that Bernice will marry me when she discovers that Madeline and I once had an affair. Bernice is such a sensitive woman. Bad enough that Madeline used to steal her boyfriends back in high school. How will she feel if she finds out that I was once Madeline’s lover?”
Chapter 6
“I think you’d better start from the beginning,” Owen said.
“I worked for Madeline’s husband, Raymond C. Villantry.” Arthur massaged his temples. “Just like almost everyone else did at the time. I was young. Couldn’t afford college. But I was determined to make something of myself.”
“At Villantry?” Amy asked.
“No, I had my sights set a lot higher. But Villantry was a start, and a good one. I knew who Madeline was, of course. Everyone in Villantry did. Her family was as rich as the Villantrys. I didn’t move in Madeline’s circles in those days, though.” Arthur grimaced. “Only the Villantrys did.”
“Go on,” Owen said.
“Madeline married Raymond Villantry right out of college. Everyone said it was a perfect match. I honestly believe that she was wildly in love with him in the beginning. But Villantry just took her for granted. He was accustomed to getting whatever he wanted. Then, after he got it, he lost interest. The only exception was the company. He was passionate about it.”
“What happened?” Amy asked gently.
“I was doing well at Villantry.” Arthur leaned his head back against the chair. “Had a flair for business. Madeline and I were thrown together on a number of occasions because she was on the planning commission for the original library building. Civic duty and all that.”
“Why did that bring the two of you together?” Amy asked.
“Villantry’s firm had expanded beyond fishing by then. It was into construction. It was going to build the library. I was assigned to act as a liaison between the planning commission and the company. Raymond Villantry had better things to do with his time than fuss with the library that was to be named in his honor.”
“Such as?” Owen asked. He was aware that Amy’s gaze was softening rapidly. He was not surprised. He recalled their conversation regarding his move to Misplaced Island. He’d suspected all along that she had a soft heart.
Arthur’s mouth twisted. “Such as making a number of trips to Seattle. Villantry was having an affair in the city. A lot of people were aware of it, but of course no one actually said anything to Madeline. No one thought she knew. I came across her one day after a committee meeting. She was sitting all alone in a conference room, crying her heart out.”
Amy looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “And you comforted her?”
Arthur nodded. “One thing led to another. She wasn’t in love with me, nor I with her. But she needed someone, and she was a lovely woman. And so very brave.” He moved his hands in a vague gesture. “What can I say? We had an affair.”
“What ended it?” Owen demanded. “Did her husband discover what was going on?”
“Oh, no.” Arthur frowned. “No one ever discovered us. At least, I thought no one knew. We were very, very careful. Madeline had her reputation and her family to consider. She was so terrified of being caught that she ended the affair after a couple of months.”
Amy frowned. “Why?”
“She said she had to consider the future of her two young children. She didn’t want to jeopardize their inheritance by risking a divorce. And she had her parents to think of, too. She was their only child. She was afraid that they would be humiliated if we were found out.”
“Hmm,” Amy said.
Owen glanced at her. He was starting to recognize that tone in her voice. “Yes? Did you have something you wanted to share with the rest of the class?”
