TWELVE

Sam and Lila had dinner over at the hotel.

It was not an enjoyable meal for either of them.

“I still can’t believe Mr. Arbogast would go off without a word to us,” Lila said, putting down her coffee cup. “And I can’t believe Mary would go to Chicago, either.”

“Well, Sheriff Chambers believes it.” Sam sighed. “And you’ve got to admit Arbogast lied to me about seeing Bates’s mother.”

“Yes, I know, It doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, neither does this story about Chicago. Mr. Arbogast didn’t know any more about Mary than what we could tell him.”

Sam set his dessert spoon down next to the sherbet cup. “I’m beginning to wonder how much any of us really knows about Mary,” he said. “I’m engaged to her. You lived with her. Neither of us could believe she’d take that money. And yet there’s no other answer. She did take it.”

“Yes.” Lila’s voice was low. “I believe that, now. She took the money. But she wouldn’t do it for herself. Maybe she thought she could help you, maybe she wanted to bring it to help pay off your debts.”

“Then why didn’t she come to me? I wouldn’t have accepted anything from her, even if I didn’t know the money was stolen. But if she believed I might, then why didn’t she come?”

“She did. At least, she got as far as that motel.” Lila crumpled her napkin, held it wadded tightly in her hand. “That’s what I was trying to tell the sheriff. We know she got as far as the motel. And just because Arbogast lied, that’s no reason why this man Bates can’t be lying, too. Why doesn’t the sheriff at least go out there and take a look around for himself, instead of just talking to him on the phone?”

“I don’t blame Sheriff Chambers for refusing,” Sam told her. “How could he go any further? On what grounds, what evidence? What is he supposed to be looking for? You can’t just go breaking in on people for no reason. Besides, they don’t operate that way in a small town. Everybody knows everybody else, nobody wants to stir up trouble or cause unnecessary hard feeling. You heard what he said. There’s nothing to make anyone suspect Bates. He’s known him all his life.”

“Yes, and I’ve known Mary all my life. But there were some things about her I didn’t suspect, either. He admitted this man was a little peculiar.”

“He didn’t go that far. He said he was sort of a recluse. That’s understandable, when you think of what a shock it must have been to him when his mother died.”

“His mother.” Lila frowned. “That’s the one thing I can’t get through my head. If Arbogast wanted to lie, why should he lie about a thing like that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was just the first thing he —”

“In fact, if he was planning to run off, then why did he bother to call up at all? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to just leave, without our even knowing he’d actually been to that motel?” She let go the napkin and stared at Sam. “I — I’m beginning to get an idea.”

“What’s up?”

“Sam, just what did Arbogast say there at the last, when he called you? About seeing Bates’s mother?”

“He said that he’d noticed her sitting at the bedroom window when he drove in.”

“Maybe he wasn’t lying.”

“But he had to be. Mrs. Bates is dead, you heard what the sheriff said.”

“Maybe it was Bates who lied. Perhaps Arbogast merely assumed that the woman was Bates’s mother, and when he spoke of it, Bates said yes. He said she was sick, and nobody could see her, but Arbogast insisted. Isn’t that what he told you?”

“That’s right. But I still don’t see —”

“No, you don’t. But Arbogast did. The point is, he saw somebody sitting in the window when he drove in. And maybe that somebody was— Mary.”

“Lila, you don’t think that —”

“I don’t know what to think. But why not? The trail ends there at the motel. Two people are missing. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t that enough for me, as Mary’s sister, to go to the sheriff and insist that he make a thorough investigation?”

“Come on,” said Sam. “Let’s get going.”

They found Sheriff Chambers at his house, finishing dinner. He chewed on a toothpick while he listened to Lila’s story.

“I dunno,” he said. “You’d have to be the one to sign the complaint —”

“I’ll sign anything you want. Just so you go out there and look around.”

“Couldn’t we wait until tomorrow morning? I mean, I’m expecting word about those bank robbers and all, and —”

“Now, just a minute,” Sam said. “This is a serious business, Sheriff This girl’s sister has been missing for over a week now. It isn’t just a matter of money any more. For all we know, her life could be in danger. She could even be —”

“All right! You don’t have to tell me my business, Sam. Come on, let’s go over to the office and I’ll let her sign. But if you ask me, it’s a waste of time. Norman Bates is no murderer.”

The word emerged, just like any other word, and died away. But its echo lingered. Sam heard it and Lila heard it. It stayed with them as they drove over to the courthouse annex with Sheriff Chambers. It stayed with them after the Sheriff drove away, out to the motel. He’d refused to take either of them along; told them to wait. So they waited in the office, just the two of them. The two of them—and the word.

It was late afternoon when he returned. He came in alone, giving them a look in which disgust and relief were equally compounded.

“Just what I told you,” he said. “False alarm.”

“What did you —”

“Hold your horses, young lady. Give me a chance to sit down, I’ll tell you about it. Went straight out there and didn’t run into any trouble at all. Bates, he was down in the woods behind the house, getting himself some kindling. I never even had to show the warrant—he was nice as pie. Told me to go look around for myself, even gave me the keys to the motel.”

“And did you look?”

“Of course I did. I went into every unit of the motel, and I covered that house of his from top to bottom. Didn’t find at soul. Didn’t find anything. Because there’s nobody there. Nobody’s been there, except Bates. He’s lived alone all these years.”

“What about the bedroom?”

“There’s a bedroom up front on the second floor, all right, and it used to be his mother’s, when she was alive. That part’s straight enough. In fact, he even kept it the way it was. Says he has no other use for it, seeing as how he’s got the whole house to himself. Guess he’s kind of an odd one, that Bates, but who wouldn’t be, living alone like that all these years?”

“Did you ask him about what Arbogast told me?” Sam murmured. “About seeing his mother when he drove in, and all that?”

“Sure, right away. He says it’s a lie—Arbogast never even mentidned seeing anyone. I talked kind of rough to him at first, on purpose, just to see if there was something he was holding back on, but his story makes sense. I asked him about this Chicago business again, too. And I still think that’s the real answer.”

“I can’t believe it,” Lila said. “Why would Mr. Arbogast make up that unnecessary excuse about seeing Bates’s mother?”

“You’ll have to ask him, next time you see him,” Sheriff Chambers told her. “Maybe he saw her ghost sitting in the window.”

“You’re sure his mother is dead?”

“I already told you I was there, at the funeral. I saw the note she left for Bates when she and this Considine fella killed themselves. What more do you want? Do I have to dig her up and show her to you?” Chambers sighed. “I’m sorry, miss. Didn’t mean to fly off that way. But I’ve done all I can. I searched the house. Your sister isn’t there, this man Arbogast isn’t there. Didn’t find a trace of their cars, either, Seems to me the answer’s pretty plain. Anyway, I’ve done all I can.”

“What would you advise me to do, now?”

“Why, cheek with this fella Arbogast’s home office, see if they know anything. Maybe they’ve got some lead on this Chicago angle. Don’t suppose you can contact anyone until tomorrow morning, though.”

“I guess you’re right.” Lila stood up. “Well, thank you for all your trouble. I’m sorry to be such a bother.”

“That’s what I am here for. Right, Sam?”

“Right,” Sam answered.

Sheriff Chambers stood up. “I know how you feel about all this, miss,” he said. “I wish I could have been more of a help to you. But there’s just nothing solid for me to go on. If you only had some kind of real evidence, now, then maybe —”

“We undersand,” Sam said. “And we both appreciate your co-operation.” He turned to Lila. “Shall we go now?”

“You look into this Chicago business,” the big man called after them. “So long, now.”

Then they were on the sidewalk. The late afternoon sun cast slanting shadows. As they stood there the black tip of the Civil War veteran’s bayonet grazed Lila’s throat.

“Want to come back to my place?” Sam suggested.

The girl shook her head.

“The hotel?”

“No.”

“Where would you like to go, then?”

“I don’t know about you,” Lila said. “But I’m going out to that motel.”

She raised her face defiantly, and the sharp shadow line slashed across her neck. For a moment, it looked as though somebody had just cut off Lila’s head. . . .