I looked at her, realizing how quickly she was willing to trade him for her own safety.

“You always had a choice,” I said.

Sheriff Miller came back inside, carrying a small plastic bag containing Mark’s silver revolver.

“We need to get a statement from you, Claire,” the Sheriff said. “And we’ll need to secure the library for the arson investigator.”

“Of course,” I said.

“Is there anyone else in the house?” Miller asked, looking up the grand staircase.

“No,” I said. “Just us.”

A sharp buzz came from the kitchen down the hall.

It was the house phone, ringing on the wall near the pantry.

The sound was loud and persistent in the quiet house.

I walked down the dark hallway toward the kitchen.

The air here was cleaner, smelling of copper and old wax.

The green light on the kitchen wall phone was flashing.

I picked up the receiver and pressed it to my ear.

“Hello?” I said.

There was a long pause on the other end, then the sound of someone breathing.

“Mark?” a woman’s voice asked.

It was Juliette.