InSight

harassing her.”
    She laughed. The nerve of him. Imagine, comparing me to that drunk’s daughter. Even though she knew what he was doing, blood boiled inside her. A sheen of perspiration glazed her upper lip. No one gets the better of Carlotta Gentry. She squared her shoulders.
    “I’ve done no such thing, and I resent the implication. I haven’t left Charleston , except for a short trip to New York to see a series of Broadway plays, not that I have to defend myself against such an outrageous allegation.”
    “Of course you wouldn’t soil your hands. You have someone else do your dirty work. Your man, Graeme Collyer, for example.”
    “Mr. Collyer isn’t my man. He works for my father in Boston as his private bodyguard, which keeps him too busy to be harassing , as you phrase it, a pitiful blind woman hours away. Why on earth would he find pleasure in that?”
    “I think it concerns your husband’s death and some major finagling within Synthetec.”
    She felt the involuntary twitch in her cheek. “My husband died in a plane crash a little over eight years ago. The documented cause was pilot error, with no evidence of foul play. I’m distraught over his loss to this day.”
    Then she focused her eyes on McCallister’s. “You’re grasping at straws, Detective. You are still with the police force, aren’t you?”
    “You know I am. You know everything except where your son is and what he told his wife after your husband died, before you turned him into the man he is today.”
    Turning to take in the view, she decided what had to be done. She’d built this empire with Serrano money, not Gentry’s. No arrogant has-been cop would take it away. Not while she lived and breathed. Too much was at stake. She’d play with him a little longer to see what else he knew.
    “You’re pushing the envelope, young man. It’s the second time today you insinuated something I characterize as slander. A genetic malfunction rooted on his father’s side caused my son’s illness. We’ve done everything possible to help him, including perfecting an anti-psychotic drug to alleviate his symptoms.”
    “I had your drug tested, and you know it’s anything but what you claim.”
    She squinted. This man definitely knew too much, but without proof, all he had were suppositions. “Speaking publicly about ridiculous accusations would be a serious mistake.”
    “That sounds like a threat.”
    “You’re the one making threats, Detective.”
    “Your party is over, Mrs. Gentry. I think when the authorities dig deeper they’ll find some things that won’t reflect well on you, starting with your husband’s death. What did Stewart hear to make him such a threat that you sicced your quack psychiatrist on him? And why Abby? Did you really think she knew something all these years and kept quiet?”
    Game, match, championship, Detective McCallister.
    She smiled and her shoulders relaxed. “Oh, when my albino quack failed to extract any information from her, he made sure she didn’t remember anything. Yes, Detective, Dr. Scanlon treated Abigael at the same time he treated Stewart. He visited her again in the hospital for a touchup. Only after Stewart escaped from our protective haven did I worry that he possessed the magic key to her damaged brain. But then I saw the advantage. If Stewart unlocked that brain of his and released the information we wanted, it’d be to Abigael. All we had to do was wait until he knocked on her door. We should have let him out ages ago.
    “So you see, we’ve known where Stewart has been almost since the beginning. The cabin, the nights he spent in that jalopy, and the seedy motel he stayed in. We know where he is now, too, even though you don’t. And we’ll know what he tells Abigael when he tells her.”
    * * * * *
    L uke took a deep breath. Surely he’d misread her. She couldn’t have said what he thought because if she did, she’d told him too much. He was in over his head and sinking, and he knew it. Now he wished he had waited for Norm, because he saw no way out.
    “Would you mind repeating that, Mrs. Gentry? I didn’t quite get it all. Your speech patterns are more difficult for me to read.”
    “Nice try, McCallister, but you understood me perfectly. The expression on your face gave you away. You could cause me a lot of trouble. Raise questions I’d rather not answer. You could, but I doubt you will.” Her eyes flicked behind him, and she nodded her head. “I seriously doubt