Children of the Storm

we're after is mentally ill. We've already said he doesn't need reasons,” Sonya observed.
        “Still-” Saine began.
        Bill Peterson interrupted him. “Besides, Blenwell has good reason, in his own mind, to go to New Jersey, after the Doughertys. He wants to own Distingue, all of it, both houses.”
        “What would murdering the kids gain him, toward that end?” Saine wanted to know.
        “He hasn't killed them yet,” Bill Peterson pointed out. “But his threats to kill them brought the whole Dougherty family running for the 'safety' of Seawatch, which might have been exactly what he had in mind. With them so close, his threats could be carried out quite easily. And if Alex and Tina were killed on Distingue, Joe Dougherty would unload this house and his share of the island so fast your head would swim to watch. And because he's offered the best price and would be a fast buyer, Ken Blenwell and his grandparents would become sole owners.”
        “I think Bill's right,” Sonya said.
        Saine shook his head. “Maybe. I still don't think so. Blenwell is too level-headed, too-”
        “What are you protecting him for?” Bill suddenly asked. He let go of Sonya's hand, pushed his chair away from the table and got to his feet, his anger giving him a nervous energy that bristled almost visibly all over him. “You put members of the Dougherty staff to the most grueling kind of questioning, intimidating them, letting them know you suspect each and every one of them, but when it comes to another very likely suspect outside the family, you grow lenient and doubtful.”
        “Call it intuition,” Saine said.
        “Bull. I've never seen you operate on intuition yet,” Peterson said. “You've got reasons for dismissing Kenneth Blenwell from the list of suspects. I just wish I knew what those reasons were.”
        “What are you implying?” Saine asked, reddening.
        Bill hesitated a moment too long before he said, calmly, “Nothing. I wasn't implying anything at all.”
        The scarlet color drained slowly out of the bodyguard's face, like water from a keg tap, and the tension in his broad shoulders slackened and disappeared altogether. “I'm just doing my job,” he said. He was not offering any excuses, but explaining the situation to a bunch of inattentive children.
        “Of course you are,” Bill said. “I'm sorry, Rudolph. It's just that I keep thinking what someone wants to do with those two kids"-he motioned with his hand toward the small dining room off the kitchen where, out of sight, Bess and Helga were playing with the children-"and I want to start hitting someone, anyone. And now, when he almost kills Sonya-”
        “I know, I know,” Saine said. “We're all on edge, and we all have a right to be. But I'm the one best qualified to investigate things like this, no matter what any of you may think of my methods.”
        Bill nodded. “And now,” he said, “shouldn't we get Sonya to bed? She's going to be stiff as a board in the morning; she'll need all the sleep she can get.”
        “By all means,” Saine said.
        “I can get there on my own,” Sonya said.
        Peterson said, “Nonsense.” He helped her from her chair and made her lean on him as they walked out of the kitchen, down the corridor and up the main staircase.
        At the door to her room, Bill said, “Sonya, are you certain that you're all right? You look awfully pale. If you want me to, I can get the Lady Jane going and run you over to the family doctor on Guadeloupe, have you there and back in a jiffy.”
        “I'm a nurse, remember? I know what I'm doing.” She smiled at him affectionately, pleased by his obvious concern. “I've got a bruised throat, which will take a couple of weeks to go away completely. And I've got a splitting headache. But a few aspirins and a good night's sleep are just the medications I need for both complaints.”
        “Sure?”
        “I am, yes.”
        He looked directly into her eyes, so evidently concerned about her that she was, for a moment, disconcerted. “I didn't want to see you get hurt, Sonya. I never thought you'd become so awfully involved with this thing.”
        “It's hardly your fault,” she said.
        His face grew tight and angry. “That madman said it was the children he wanted. Why come after you?”
        “He didn't come after me,” she reminded him. “I stumbled across him in the garden. He was