In the Still of the Night

Julian West today, did you?“ Walker went on. “You lost him in the Great War, in the Argonne Forest. The man’s body that was taken away was that of his cousin, John West. Isn’t that true?”
    Bud looked up at Walker with resigned hatred. “What if it is?“
    “You admit it?“
    “I admit nothing.“
    “Then I will tell you. Julian West, who wrote such fine novels, was the mentor of his cousin. It was Julian who died in the fire in the trenches and John who survived and kept writing war novels.“
    “What makes you think that?“ Bud said lethargically.
    “Because Professor Hoornart is in touch with the woman who was Julian West’s governess or nanny when he was a child. She’s told us that when he was a small child, he had his appendix removed. The surgeon didn’t sew up the incision properly and the stitches burst. It had to be resewn and got another external infection. He was left with a terrible scar. The man who died had no such scar. Not even a hint of one. Dr. Polhemus has confirmed this.”
    Bud sat back slightly. His face was as expressionless as when he was waiting table at the meals.
    “You agreed with the charade. That John West would replace his cousin. They must have looked quite a lot alike. The nanny confirms this was true when they were children, at least. And the scars on John West’s face could account for any difference in the supposed Julian West’s appearance when he returned from the war.“
    “It was Captain Julian’s idea,“ Bud said tonelessly. “Before he died. He said he wanted his name to go on and only his cousin John could make that happen.”
    A great silence fell over the room and Walker let it go on as long as he could stand. “But Lorna Pratt Ethridge had been his lover as a young woman. That story was probably the only one of herself that was true. She knew the scar. And when she invited herself to Julian’s room after Professor Hoornart had left, and made love to him here, she knew it wasn’t the same man. Maybe she’d already guessed and came to his room to prove it to herself. She was a blackmailer, you know.“
    “She was a bitch,“ Bud said under his breath.
    “You were in the next room. You heard them.”
    Bud finally looked up again. He was still expressionless as he said flatly, “She told him she had money problems. That he would either marry her and leave his fortune to her in his will, or she would reveal that he was an imposter.“
    “So you protected him from her threats.“
    “It was my job to,“ Bud said blandly, as if anyone in his right senses could understand. “When Mr. John West and I were taking Mr. Julian West back from the front, he said John was to take his place. And he made me swear I would remain as true to his cousin as I had been to him.”
    Walker wasn’t as interested in the distant past as in the recent. “You followed Mrs. Ethridge to her room,“ Walker said just as coolly. “And killed her, and left West’s tie tack on the floor so that he would be accused, and you could absolutely refute the charge, thus protecting him from further suspicion. And it almost worked. You fooled me,“ he admitted. “You were very good at your ‘job,’ weren’t you?“
    “Yes, I was,“ Bud said, straightening his back a bit. “Those two men were my life. My way out of poverty and ignorance. I owed them.“
    “And the manuscript? You stole that, too.“
    “I had to. I heard that man“—he pointed to Cecil, who quailed slightly—“I heard him say that the books were written before and after the Great War by a different man. I couldn’t have him saying that in a book. I didn’t like killing Lorna Pratt, you know. And I didn’t want to kill again. But I’ve seen, man and boy, how hard it is to write a book, and I know if it were lost, no writer would have the heart to start over on the same book.”
    At this, Lily couldn’t stop herself from speaking. “You didn’t hear what else Professor Hoornart said because you were called away. He said it was the Great War that changed Julian West the researcher of facts into Julian West the man who had actually lived them. He didn’t mean it literally. Although he was right, but didn’t know it.“
    “It doesn’t matter, miss. Nothing matters anymore. I did my job. I protected the two men who had saved my life and made me worthwhile.”
    A chill seemed to fall over everyone in the room at this remorselessly honest remark.
    Lily said, almost the second she was realizing