“It’s rather late, Mr. Eisler,” she says, annoyed.
“Yes, I know. I had an idea during dinner, though, and I…
“Can’t it wait till morning?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Very well,” she says curtly, and turns, and walks into the living room. Raines and I follow her. He takes his preferred seat on the fireplace ledge, perching there like a gargoyle. Hester sits in the blue chair near the brass kettle. I remain standing.
“What is so urgent, Mr. Eisler?” Hester asks.
“I want to have a party,” I tell her.
“A what?” she says.
“A party. Tomorrow night.”
“Are you drunk?” she asks.
“He is not drunk,” Raines says.
“You want to have a party,” Hester repeats.
“Yes.”
“In celebration?” she asks drily. “Before the event?”
“No. Weglowski and I will be wiring the bridge tomorrow night. I want to be someplace else at the time.”
“You’re asking Weglowski to do it alone?”
“No. But I want an alibi for where I was while it was being done.”
“We’ll be happy to alibi you personally,” Raines says.
“Not good enough, Professor. If Harold and Bob come around asking questions after the event..”
“Who?”
“The agents who were looking for your friend Hollis.”
“Our friend Hollis is on his way to Chicago. No one will be talking to him, either before or after the event”
“They still won’t believe a word any of you tell them. If I know you were once involved with someone they consider a known troublemaker, so do they. I want a tighter alibi. Competent witnesses. Plenty of them. I want them all to be able to swear that I was here.”
“Here?” Hester says.
“I can’t very well give a big party in my hotel room.”
“Perhaps you’d care to tell us,” Hester asked drily, “how you expect to be in two places at the same time? We realize you’re a man of many accomplishments, Mr. Eisler, but…”
“I want a Halloween party.”
Hester looks at her wrist watch. “You’re a bit late. Halloween has come and gone.”
“On a Thursday. There’ll be Halloween parties all over town tomorrow night”
“Mr. Eisler…”
“I want a masquerade party.”
“Ah,” Raines says, and nods.
“I see,” Hester says. She is silent for only a moment She turns to Raines then and says, “Whom can we get, Connie? To stand in for Mr. Eisler until he gets here. That is your idea, isn’t it?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“All right, who?”
“Epstein,” I say immediately. “He’s about my height and weight. He’ll do fine.”
“I see you’ve given this some thought,” Raines says.
“All through dinner,” I tell him. He is smiling. I cannot resist smiling back at him.
“How many people will you want here?” Hester asks. She is all business now. She has accepted the idea and has already begun planning its execution. Perhaps she is, as Raines once said, indispensable to the plot
“Two dozen at least. Students, faculty members, whoever.” My smile widens. “If you can arrange to get Bob and Harold here, that would be perfect”
“Please, Mr. Eisler,” Hester says, but I can tell by the flicker in her eye that she gives at least momentary consideration to the idea before rejecting it. “Will you meet with Epstein tomorrow to work out the details?”
“I will.”
“When and where? I’ll arrange it from here.”
“Tell him to pick me up at the hotel early in the morning. Nine o’clock, let’s say.”
“He’ll be there.”
“Fine. In that case…”
“Before you go…” Hester says.
“Yes?”
“Have you determined how you’ll get to the bridge Saturday morning?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Sara may wish to drive you.”
“That’s up to Sara, isn’t it?”
“Suggest it to her.”
“I think I’d rather she suggested it to me”
“Mr. Eisler, you’ll need transportation to the bridge….”
“And from it, I hope.”
“In any event, if Sara doesn’t choose to drive you, we must make other arrangements. Discuss it with her and let me know.”
“I’ll discuss it with her.”
They walk me into the entrance hall. Raines opens the door for me.
“Mr. Eisler?” Hester says.
“Yes?”
“I think you’re a foolhardy man,” she says, “but I think you’re doing a splendidly courageous thing. I have nothing but admiration for you.”
Her words surprise me. I am, in fact, speechless.
“Good night, Mr. Eisler,” she says.
“Good night,” I say again. As the door closes gently behind me, I murmur, “Thank you.”
Sara is in the bathroom brushing her teeth.
“Hester wants to know if you’ll drive me to the bridge Saturday morning,” I tell her.
“I will,” Sara says, and spits into the sink.
“Do you want to?”
“Of course.”
“You don’t have to. They can arrange…”
“I want to. I'll drive you there, and I'll wait for you.”
“We’ll see about waiting for me.”
“How else will you get back?”
“I don’t know. I suppose…”
“I’ll wait for you,” she says. “Now get out of here, please, I want to shower.”
I go back into the bedroom, take off my clothes, put on my blue nightshirt, and crawl under the covers. In the bathroom, Sara is singing in the shower again.
“Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
“Seven old ladies locked in the lavat'ry.
“They were there from Monday till Saturd’y.
“Nobody knew they were there.”
She stops singing only when she finishes showering. “Whooo!” she shouts, and throws open the bathroom door. A cloud of steam escapes into the bedroom. I hear her grunting as she briskly towels herself.
“Hester’s giving a party tomorrow night,” I yell from the bed.
“What?” She pokes her head around the doorjamb.
“Hester. A party tomorrow night.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” she says in dismissal, and goes back into the bathroom. She is in there for perhaps another five minutes, humming, brushing out her hair. She comes into the bedroom naked, turns out the lights, and gets into bed beside me. In the darkness, in each others’ arms, we whisper like the conspirators we are.
“Do you want to go to the party?” she asks.
“It was my idea.”
“Then I guess we’ll be going.”
“Well, you’ll be going with Professor Epstein.”
“Oh, lovely,” Sara says.
“But I'll join you before midnight.”
“Where will you be till then?”
“At the bridge.”
Sara nods. She is silent for a long time. Then she asks, “Are you nervous about Saturday, Arthur?”
“I’m petrified”
“So am I.”
“You don’t have to drive me, Sara. In fact, I’d prefer…”
“I want to. I want to be with you.”
She is silent again. She smells of soap, she feels soft and smooth and wonderfully warm. “What time must we leave Saturday morning?” she whispers.
“I’d like to be at the bridge by ten-thirty.”
“That means…”
“We’ll have to leave here by ten. No later. That’s if the road’s good If it snows…”