A wave of sadness dimmed Norma's disposition as she sat and thought of the future.
"I hate to see Carol and the boys get into trouble," she said. "I like Carol and the twins are very nice, too."
He shrugged. "They all know that they are stealing. I am only concerned about you. You are a very beautiful young girl. I would hate to have to put in prison. You could go away for five years. What are you now? Nineteen, twenty? You'd be twenty-five at least before you got out."
She was so pleased to learn that he didn't really know her actual age, that she reacted with a touch of humor.
"I'd be an old lady," she said, gravely.
"All right. You go on and meet whoever is going to pick you up. You sneak out of the house tonight at two and meet me at the old carriage house. Maybe you'd better go for a walk this afternoon so you will be able to find the place in the dark."
"All right," she said. She hesitated, then added, "I'll be scared to death in that place at two in the morning. I'll be terrified."
"I'11 comfort you," he said. "Now, you see if you can make me some lists of just what has been taken from the house so far."
"I think I know. With your lists I can be sure. Now good-bye, and take care. I'll see you tonight."
She gave him her shy smile and then she got out and walked back in the morning sunshine and the beauty of the day began to affect her and she was suddenly happy. She turned to look back and she saw that Adam Wright was already driving away. He turned at the block behind her and he waved at her as he went on his way. She waved back and then, as she moved toward the library and her date with Carol, she suddenly felt awfully alone, awfully unnerved.
She liked Adam Wright and she wished that he could spend the day with her. She thought about meeting him at two in the morning in an old deserted carriage house on the estate and that unnerved her even more.
Carol pulled up in front of her as she sat on one of the benches intended for bus passengers. She got into the car and when Carol smiled at her and asked if she had found the books she needed, she nodded and spread them out on the seat. Carol glanced at them and then she concentrated upon her driving.
They were using Lennie's car, an expensive sedan, and she looked at Carol's beautiful face and soft, brown hair and she wished that she could spare Carol from a future in jail. But, there was nothing that she could do. Nothing.
She felt that she would like to talk with Carol, really try to get to know her, but there was a sort of built-in barrier in Carol. There would be so many things that she would not say to such a lovely young girl, things like frivolous comments or small talk. She sat beside the brunette and kept still all during the long drive back to the Todd house.
Carol suggested that they have an early lunch and then they could get busy and go on with their work. Norma agreed to that and when they began their labors in the library, Norma asked Carol how they kept track of the things that had already been sold. Didn't they have to have lists for the inheritance tax people and the income tax people?
She was deliberately snooping and already working for Adam Wright, she supposed. He had asked her to see if she could find out what pieces had been disposed of and she was doing it. Carol had already made some lists for Lennie and she showed them to Norma.
Norma glanced at the lists casually, then she set them aside on one corner of the desk. Later on, when Carol was making coffee for them she copied the lists and concealed them in her bra. Lennie and the others had already done very well when it came to looting the mansion of its treasures.
For a while, she was conscious of a strong feeling of regret. She liked Carol and she sort of liked Lennie and the twins, too, and she hated to do anything that would help them into jail, but there was nothing else that she could do. Adam Wright had made it quite plain that she co-operate fully and be helpful or she would go to jail as one of the robbers, too. She worried, too, about Lily. She would never make it in the world outside if Norma was not around to help her. Lily wasn't very strong and she had no idea of what a horrid place the world could be. She just didn't know.
She and Carol quit in time to begin fixing supper and when Lily and the others got back to the big house, they were starving, they said. She sat and looked at Lily while their dinner was thawing in the oven and she could see the bright, mischievous gleam in Lily's big blue eyes. She watched her little sister and saw that she seemed to be very interested in the two boys. They seemed to be quite fond of Lily, too.
Norma relaxed and she was glad that Lily could have nice friends. Lennie was a crook, but the twins were just sweet young boys who were easily led into a life of crime and thievery and she was sure that the authorities would be very lenient when it came time to deal with them.
She helped Carol clean up in the kitchen and then Lennie went into the library with them and Norma showed him the work that had been accomplished during the day. She and Carol had found and evaluated many rare books and they could be taken off to market the next day if that was what Lennie wanted to do with them.
Norma did not mention the copies of the list that she had made, or that she had pretty well inventoried the things that had already been sold. Lennie was quite pleased with what she had accomplished and she was glad when he and the others decided to go to bed early and get a good night's sleep. Carol served them some wine as a nightcap but Norma refused it. She didn't want any dreams intruding in upon her nocturnal activities.
When she got ready for bed, she took a shower and then got under the covers. She set her alarm for fifteen minutes before two and she was filled with a bursting sense of excitement. She knew that she was looking forward to meeting Adam Wright with a rising tide of interest that was quite unusual in her. She decided that she liked the handsome young investigator and then, that settled, she fell asleep.
The alarm snapped her awake and she turned it off quickly, worried that she might awaken the others. The house was very quiet as she got dressed in a black sweater and a dark skirt. She was sure that she would not need a bra with the sweater, she wasn't that big-busted and she would be meeting Adam in the dark anyway. She slipped on a pair of panties and a pair of sneakers and she went downstairs and out into the night without making a sound.
She knew the way to the carriage house. She had made certain of that when she and Carol took their usual walk during the afternoon. She was able to stride confidently along in the dark toward the big old house at the far end of the estate.
There was a moon and she was filled with the warmth of the night and a bubbling excitement that she simply could not stifle. She realized that she was panting, breathing heavily. She would not let him know that he affected her in any way. She stopped walking and she turned around to look at the rear of the house for a moment.
Lily's lights were still on and that surprised her. She wondered if Lily was afraid to sleep in the dark, or was she up there reading a lurid novel?
She turned around again and then she was just fine. She went on toward the big building and she became aware of her pounding heart and her shaking legs. She snorted softly, disgusted with herself. She was behaving like an idiotic schoolgirl and she was not a school girl. Not any more.
The moon slid out from behind a big cloud and the land around her was suddenly tinted with silver and the darkness of the night was gone. She stopped for a moment and gazed around her at the incredible beauty of the grounds in bright moonlight. It was a sight that was breathtaking and she enjoyed it fully. Then, resolutely, she turned her attention back to more immediate things and she walked on, eager for her meeting with Adam. There were so many things that she wanted to tell him, so much that she could show him. She had the lists of everything stolen in her skirt pocket and she could tell him just what Lennie planned next because he had said that she and Carol could begin to inventory and catalogue the silverware and some of the more precious items of decoration. There were many pairs of gold and silver candlesticks and all sorts of other items fashioned from precious metals and Lennie was going to dispose of everything in sight as quickly as he could.