Page 60 of The Furies

“I assumed at first it was about the police. This is Raum we’re talking about. If he wasn’t dishonest, he’d be nothing at all. The police are a permanent hazard for someone of his vocation.”

But she said it with a smile. Whatever Raum had, it should have been bottled and sold as scent to ill-starred men.

“Which is why you asked Will Quinn not to involve them.”

“Yes.”

“Do you still have feelings for Raum?”

“I have memories, a few of them good. For their sake, I won’t see him thrown to the lions.”

“And your sister?”

“Whatever happened between them, she feels the same way about keeping him out of the hands of the law. She did take him back to her bed, though, however briefly.”

“You disapproved of her resuming their relationship?”

“I just didn’t think he was good for either of us, and I didn’t want him to come between us again.”

“And has he?”

“Briefly, but we’ll get over it. The money will help.”

“You’ll still accept funds from Raum, even knowing how he came by them?”

“I can’t afford not to. I’m about to lose my business, and if I lose that I’ll lose my home along with it. Ambar is also in debt, and can barely make her monthly payments. If a thief has to suffer so we can survive, I’ll take that deal.”

“That’s very pragmatic of you.”

“I’m a very pragmatic person.”

I didn’t doubt it.

“Where is Raum now?”

“He left town.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“He’s gone up to the County. He said he’d be safer there until all this had blown over, which was when I started to understand that it wasn’t the police he was trying to avoid, because he assured me the theft hadn’t been reported to them, and never would be. So I asked him straight: Who knew that he and Egon were responsible for the robbery? He assured me that no one did, not even Kepler.”

“Raum was mistaken, because Kepler is here.”

Dolors Strange briefly turned away from me so that her hair hid her face.

“Raum was mistaken about a lot of things,” she said.

“Would you like to elaborate?”

“I’m sleeping with Will Quinn, not Raum. Is that clear enough for you?”

Go Will, I thought. You’re a braver man than I. But I noticed that Dolors hadn’t reacted with any great shock to the revelation of Kepler’s presence in Maine.

“You knew Kepler had tracked Raum to Portland, didn’t you?” I said. “Even before he nailed a dead squirrel to your door.”

“I feared he might come, whatever Raum might have claimed to the contrary. Nobody gets away with a robbery like that, certainly not men like him.”

“You do realize that Raum has put you and your sister in danger.”

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