The Wolf in Winter by John Connolly Read Free Book Online Page A

the vagaries of the economy, just as, throughout its history, it had never been completely protected from conflict, or financial turmoil, or the wrath of nature. Yet it had always been better protected than most. The town took steps to ensure that this was the case.
    “What do you think happened?” Erin now whispered to her husband, as they watched the men approach. “Did she get away?”
    “No,” said Harry. “I don’t believe she did.”
    If she had escaped, these others wouldn’t be here on their doorstep. There were only two possibilities. The first was that the girl had been captured before she could leave Prosperous, in which case the chief was going to be mad as hell with them for failing to keep her locked up, and they could only hope that the girl had sense enough to keep any suspicions about the ease of her escape to herself. The second possibility was that she was dead, and Harry found himself wishing that the latter was true. It would be easier for all of them.
    They didn’t give the chief time to knock on the door. Harry opened it to find Morland with his fist raised, and he flinched instinctively in anticipation of the blow. There was a doorbell, but it wouldn’t have been like Lucas Morland to use it under the circumstances. Psychologically, a sharp knock was far more effective.
    Harry stepped aside to admit them, the chief with his face set hard and Thomas Souleby looking more disappointed than angry, as though Harry and Erin were errant teenagers who had failed some crucial parental test.
    “We know why you’re here,” said Harry.
    “If you know why we’re here,” said the chief, “then why didn’t you call to tell us about the girl?”
    “We only just found out she was gone,” said Erin. “We were about to call, but—”
    She looked to her husband for help.
    “But we were frightened,” he finished for her.
    “Frightened of what?”
    “That we’d let you down—that we’d let the whole town down. We knew you’d be angry.”
    “Did you try looking for her?”
    “Sure,” said Harry. “I mean, no, not yet, but we were about to. See, I’d put my boots on.” He pointed at his feet, which were, indeed, booted. He never wore footwear in the house—Erin bitched about the carpets—but he’d put his boots on that night, just in case it all went to hell. “I was ready to head out when you arrived.”
    “Did you find her?” asked Erin. “Please tell me that you found her.”
    She was good, Harry gave her that. It was just what she should have said, just what the chief would have expected to hear.
    Morland didn’t reply. He was leaving them to stew for a while, waiting to see what they might reveal to him. They’d have to step carefully now. What would the girl have said when she was caught? What would she have told them?
    Nothing, Harry figured. She’d have kept quiet. That was why he and Erin had simply left the doors mostly unsecured and gone about their business. If the girl was caught, they’d have deniability.
    Morland leaned against the kitchen table and folded his arms.
    “How did it happen?” he asked.
    “It was my fault,” said Erin. “I left the door unlocked. I didn’t mean to. Sometimes, if I knew she was asleep, I’d just shoot the bolt and let the shackle hang loose on the mechanism. I was tired, though, and I may have forgotten to put the padlock on. She must have worked the bolt free from the inside. I found a piece of cloth on the floor that she could have used. Maybe she tore it from her nightgown.”
    “How did she know that you hadn’t locked the door?” asked Souleby.
    Damn you, thought Harry. I always felt you were too smart for anyone’s good. Souleby, the miserable bastard, reminded Harry of an old stork: all beak and limbs.
    “I don’t know,” said Erin. “My guess is that she never gave up trying to escape. She probably tested the door every time I left the room, and this time she just got lucky.”
    “Got lucky, huh?” said