Page 112 of Tightrope

“He was just a useful tool Calloway intended to get rid of when he was no longer needed. Thorpe is the one who stole both the robot costume and the empty aluminum version from the studio. Pickwell filled the shell with a lot of serious-looking wiring and mechanical equipment so that the reporters would have a realistic looking robot to examine and photograph before and after the performance. Pickwell assumed that his assistant would wear the costume onstage. Instead, Hubbard let Lorraine Pierce into the back of the theater and helped her into the costume. She went out onstage, shot Pickwell, and then disappeared behind the curtain. Hubbard probably helped her get out of the costume and then she slipped out a side door. Hubbard took off with the suitcase containing the Ares machine.”

“Why didn’t Lorraine take the suitcase at that point?”

“The machine is heavy. It would have slowed her down and there was a real risk that she would have been seen carrying it out of the theater or trying to stuff the suitcase into the trunk of her car.”

“She’s a famous gossip columnist,” Amalie said. “People would have noticed her.”

“Peopledidnotice her. Detective Brandon said that a couple of witnesses mentioned that they had seen her get into a car parked on a side street that night but they thought nothing of it at the time. No one else did, either.”

“Just one more famous face on the streets of Burning Cove.”

“And don’t forget, Pierce knew that others, possibly even government agents, were after the Ares machine. She did not want to be caught with it in the vicinity of a murder scene. All in all, it made senseto let Hubbard take the risk of getting the machine out of the theater. No one would have paid any attention to him.”

“So, that’s it, then? It’s over?”

Matthias’s fingers closed around her hand. “Some things are finished. The rogue spy code-named Smith is no longer a problem. The case of the killer robot has been solved. The bastard who followed you here to Burning Cove has been arrested for attempted murder and is talking as fast as he can about the Death Catcher killings in hopes of avoiding the new gas chamber at San Quentin. But there are other things that have come up in the past few days. Things I would like to talk about.”

“Such as?”

His fingers tightened around hers. “Our future.”

She allowed herself to breathe again. “Is there a rush to do that?”

He turned her so that she was facing him. Everything about him was intense, focused, determined. His eyes heated. Energy whispered in the atmosphere around him.

“As far as I’m concerned there is a rush,” he said. “But it all depends on how you feel about a future that involves marrying an engineer who may have mob connections.”

She caught her breath. “We’re talking marriage?”

“I’m talking marriage. I hope you’re willing to discuss it, too, because I love you, Amalie.”

“I feel I should point out that we’ve only known each other a very short time.”

“If you need time, you can have as much as you want. I’m not going anywhere. Burning Cove is my home now.”

“What about your career as a freelance consultant?”

Matthias smiled. “There is one other bit of news that I haven’t told you. I’ve decided to take your advice and set up in business. I’m planning to do that here in Burning Cove. How does M. S. Jones Communications, Incorporated, sound to you?”

“It sounds terrific. I assume theMstands for your first name. What about theS?”

Matthias winced. “Sylvester. Unfortunately.”

Amalie smiled. “An old family name?”

“Very old. I had an ancestor in the sixteen hundreds named Sylvester Jones. The name has been handed down through the Jones family. I was the one who got stuck with it in this generation.”

“Was your ancestor an engineer, too?”

Matthias looked deeply pained. “Alchemist.”

“Not such a very different line when you think about it. The old alchemists were always trying to turn base metals into gold, right? That strikes me as a kind of engineering.”

“According to Jones family lore, Sylvester was the walking definition of a mad scientist. Obsessive. Paranoid. Reclusive. Some say he conducted experiments on himself that probably affected the bloodline. I’d rather ignore that side of my family tree, if you don’t mind.”

Amalie smiled. “You don’t have to worry about the obsessive, paranoid, and reclusive stuff. We’ve already established that you are in full control of your gift.”

“I’m not in full control of my heart. I’ve lost it, Amalie. You’re in charge of it now.”

---