Page 86 of The Summer Guests

The building smelled like dust and mold and half a century’s accumulation of mouse droppings. One of the windows was shattered, and dead leaves lay scattered across the pine floor. The planks creaked under her weight as she crossed to the stone fireplace. There she saw a mound of cold ashes, as well as half a dozen cigarette butts. There had been trespassers, of course; teenagers were always quick to find and exploit any abandoned building, and the evidence was all around them, in the empty beer cans littering the floor and the graffiti scrawled on the walls.

“They’d sit in a circle, around that fireplace,” Reuben said. “My dad said they had cushions on the floor, so everyone would be comfortable. Said it was like they were throwing a party, passing out favors, while Dr. Greene and his people watched and took notes. They told my dad that as long as he kept coming, so would the money. They told him it wasall perfectly safe, that the drugs had all been tested by the government, and he believed them. Oh, she was convincing.”

She.“So it was Vivian Stillwater who recruited him?”

“No.” He turned and looked at Maggie. “It was Elizabeth Conover.”

She stared at him. This was a surprise, although she should have considered that possibility. A married team had advantages. They could work in tandem, without the need to keep secrets from each other. If Elizabeth also worked in the project, if she was the one who’d actually recruited Sam Tarkin for their experiments, it would explain Reuben’s rage against the Conovers.

“After it happened, the police came to talk to my mother. They made it seem like it was allherfault. They said she must have known he was going insane, but how could she? She didn’t know that what they were giving him was dangerous. Buttheymust have known. The Conovers, Dr. Greene. And they never said a word, never warned us. We had no idea what could happen, until the day my father—the day he—” His voice broke. He turned and strode out of the building.

She emerged to find him standing a dozen paces away, a lone, lost figure among the trees. Rain fell on his bare head, but he didn’t seem to notice it dripping down his face, sliding onto the collar of his shirt.

“Why haven’t you told anyone about this?”

“I couldn’t. I wasn’t allowed to.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was part of the agreement they made with my mother.”

“Who made this agreement?”

“Dr. Greene and his people. He said that if we kept it to ourselves, if we never told anyone about the experiments, the government would keep the checks coming. Enough money to pay for all the care my sister needed. To cover the taxes on the house, put food on the table. We were paid to stay silent. All these years, Iwantedto talk, Iwantedto shout the truth, but I couldn’t. My mother and my sister wouldn’t let me.”

“Then why are you telling me now?”

“Because it isn’tfucking worth itanymore! Selling our souls. Selling out our father.” He let out a deep breath, and with that breath he seemed to release his pent-up rage. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway,” he said quietly, and turned to look at her. “The doctor said Abigail’s got cancer. In six months, she won’t need that money anymore.”

As the rain fell in a steady drip on their heads, Maggie thought of the damage that had been done to ordinary people like the Tarkins and to others whose names would never be known. For half a century, Reuben had lived in shame and suffered in silence. No wonder he was angry. No wonder he despised people like the Conovers, who’d shattered his life and then blithely sailed into a comfortable government-paid retirement. Every morning, when Reuben looked across Maiden Pond at Moonview, he’d be reminded that life was not fair. Not to people like the Tarkin family.

“If we expose them now, Mr. Tarkin, if they find out you gave me this information, there could be consequences for you. For your settlement. The money might stop coming.”

“I’ve lived with the consequences for fifty-three years.” He looked at Maggie. “Now it’s their turn.”

Chapter 40

Jo

They were there, all five of them, positioned in front of her desk like an encircling army. Jo turned and glanced across the squad room at Mike, but he just gave a helpless shrug as he walked out the door to start his patrol, and what else could he do? When the Martini Club demanded your attention, you had no choice but to yield.

“There’s a reason these people all knew each other,” said Maggie. “The Conovers. The Greenes. Arthur Fox.”

“Of course they know each other. They’re neighbors. They spend every summer on the same pond.”

“But what brought them to Purity in the first place?”

“Probably the same reason other people come here. The same reasonyouall moved here. It’s quiet, it’s beautiful, and come on, it’s Maine.” Jo paused and added pointedly: “Wheremostpeople mind their own business.”

Ingrid smiled at her four colleagues. “She’s getting a bit warmer.”

“Whatam I supposed to be getting?” Jo asked.

Ben said, “Consider all the advantages of our fair state. In particular, the advantages of a remote little village like Purity, far from prying eyes. A place where people are known to respect your privacy, wherethey don’t ask too many questions about why you’re here and what you do for a living.”

“There’s also the ready availability of lobster,” added Lloyd.

“Don’t you find it a bit coincidental how the Greenes, the Conovers, and Arthur Fox all showed up in Purity the same year, 1967?” said Ingrid.

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