Free Stillwatch by Mary Higgins Clark Page A

didn’t jibe with the reputation for absolute integritythat was the cornerstone of Senator Abigail Jennings’ public career.
     
52
     

8
     
     
     
At a quarter of two, Margaret Langley took the unusual step of makinga fresh pot of coffee, knowing full well that the burning discomfortof gastritis might plague her later.As always when she was upset, she walked into her study, seekingcomfort in the velvety green leaves of the plants hanging by the picturewindow. She’d been in the midst of rereading the Shakespeare sonnetswith her after-breakfast coffee when Patricia Traymore phoned askingpermission to visit.Margaret shook her head nervously. She was a slightly stoopedwoman of seventy-three. Her gray hair was finger waved around herhead, with a small bun at the nape of her neck. Her long, rather horseyface was saved from homeliness by an expression of good-humoredwisdom. On her blouse she wore the pin the school had given herwhen she retired—a gold laurel wreath entwined around the number45 to signify the years she’d served as teacher and principal.At ten minutes past two she was beginning to hope that PatriciaTraymore had changed her mind about stopping in when she saw asmall car coming slowly down the road. The driver paused at themailbox, probably checking the house number. Reluctantly Margaretwent to the front door.Pat apologized for being late. “I took a wrong turn somewhere,”she said, gladly accepting the offer of coffee.Margaret felt her anxiety begin to subside. There was somethingvery thoughtful about this young woman, the way she so carefullyscraped her boots before stepping onto the polished floor. She was sopretty, with that auburn hair and those rich brown eyes. SomehowMargaret had expected her to be terribly aggressive. When sheexplained about Eleanor, maybe Patricia Traymore would listen. Asshe poured the coffee she said as much.
     
53
     

“You see,” Margaret began, and to her own ears her voice soundedhigh-pitched and nervous, “the problem at the time the moneydisappeared in Washington was that everyone talked about Eleanoras though she were a hardened thief. Miss Traymore, did you everhear the value of the object she supposedly stole when she was a highschool senior?”“No, I don’t think so,” Pat answered.“ Six dollars. Her life was ruined because of a sixdollar bottle ofperfume! Miss Traymore, haven’t you ever started to walk out of astore and realized you were holding something you meant to buy?”“A few times,” Pat agreed. “But surely no one is convicted ofshoplifting for being absentminded about a six-dollar item.”“You are if there’s been a wave of shoplifting in town. Theshopkeepers were up in arms, and the district attorney had vowed tomake an example of the next person caught.”“And Eleanor was the next person?”“Yes. ” Fine beads of perspiration accentuated the lines inMargaret’s forehead. Alarmed, Pat noticed that her complexion wasbecoming a sickly gray.“Miss Langley, don’t you feel well? May I get you a glass of water?”The older woman shook her head. “No, it will pass. Just give mea minute.” They sat silently as the color began to return to MissLangley’s face. “That’s better. I guess just talking about Eleanor upsetsme. You see, Miss Traymore, the judge made an example of Eleanor;sent her to the juvenile home for thirty days. After that she waschanged. Different. Some people can’t take that kind of humiliation.You see, nobody believed her except me. I know young people. Shewasn’t daring. She was the kind who never chewed gum in class ortalked when the teacher was out of the room or cheated on a test. Shewasn’t only good. She was timid. ”Margaret Langley was holding something back. Pat could senseit. She leaned forward, her voice gentle. “Miss Langley, there’s alittle more to the story than you’re telling.”The woman’s lip quivered. “Eleanor didn’t have enough moneyto pay for the perfume. She explained that