Page 84 of Winterset

Reed’s eyebrows soared upward. “By the footbridge? Are you sure?”

“Yes. I have been thinking about it. Even though we have found out who killed those people almost fifty years ago, I’m not at all sure that we are any closer to finding out who the killer is right now. Everyone who lives around here has heard of those killings. You and I have proved that with a little research, a person could find out the essential elements of those killings and repeat them. Remember how Grimsley told us of seeing lights in the nursery and walking along the gallery? He assumed that they were ghosts, because that is the way his mind works, but clearly it could have been someone who sneaked into the house while it was empty. They could have found Lord Roger’s journals. Perhaps there are other journals, ones that talk about the killings, ones that we did not see, and this person read them and became intrigued.”

Reed nodded. “Yes, it’s obviously a possibility.”

“But we still have absolutely no idea who that person is,” Anna pointed out. “So I thought that I ought to try again what we talked about—but this time go to the scene of the crime and see if I can sense more about the murder. Perhaps, if I tried, I could see more of what happened, get a clue about who the killer is.”

Reed frowned. “I don’t like the idea of your exposing yourself to such pain. I saw how you reacted in the room off the gallery, and that was an old murder. Where the killings have been so recent, it will be worse. I don’t want you to suffer that sort of pain.”

“I have to,” Anna insisted.

Finally, with a sigh, Reed agreed, and they turned toward the footbridge.

On horseback, it did not take them long to reach the stream. Anna could feel her stomach tightening as they drew near the location. They dismounted and tied their horses to a tree, then walked over to the spot where Anna and the twins had stumbled upon Frank Johnson’s body.

As she approached it, the tense, uneasy feeling inside her chest began to grow, the pain twisting and turning inside her. She stood over the place where he had lain, looking down, remembering his body lying there. She wanted to look away, to close her mind to the memories, but she forced herself to think about it, seeing again the gruesome wounds, the blood pooling on the ground….

Shock jolted through her, along with a burst of pain in her head, and Anna gasped. It was not as strong as it had been the first time, but she could feel again the sensations that had assaulted her when she had been in this place before. She could see the darkness, feel herself stumbling forward, falling with a thud.

Unconsciously, Anna reached out her hand. She did not realize she had done so until she felt Reed take it, his fingers curling around her palm. She squeezed his hand tightly, grateful for its reassuring strength.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes.

“Are you all right?” He was looking down at her, his brow creased with concern.

She nodded. “It isn’t as intense as when I felt it the other day. I’m not sure how much is the feeling and how much is remembering what it felt like then.”

“What could you tell about the murder?” he asked.

“Not that much. It was quick. I think the killer must have jumped out from behind something and hit the boy in the head, because I felt surprise at almost the same time as I felt the flash of pain. Then he stumbled forward, I think, and fell to the ground and lost consciousness. I could never see the killer. I think he was behind Frank. Poor boy.”

She looked up at Reed. “I’m afraid it isn’t much help.”

“You have established a pattern. Wasn’t your brother knocked in the head, as well?”

Anna nodded. “Yes. He must hit them with something, and then, when they are incapacitated, he goes after them with a knife or whatever it is he uses to cut them.”

“Shall we go on to the farm where your maid was found?” Reed asked. “Do you feel well enough?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Really, it wasn’t nearly as bad as before.”

So they rode on, crossing the stream and turning east, rather than continuing on the path to Winterset. They went through a pleasant meadow and up a rise, and there they dismounted.

“Dr. Felton said her body was above the meadow and not far from the clump of oak saplings.” Anna gestured toward a small stand of slender young trees.

They crisscrossed the area on foot, but Anna remained strangely unaffected. Finally she stopped with a sigh. “I don’t understand. Perhaps I have the place wrong. Or maybe it has been too long.”

“But you felt the murder in Winterset, even though it had been many years,” Reed countered. He looked thoughtful. “When you first felt that something had happened to Estelle, you were elsewhere, were you not?”

Anna nodded. “Yes, in the woods near my house.” She looked at him. “Do you think that is where she was killed? That we should try there instead?”

“I don’t know. But Lord de Winter took Susan Emmett’s body from where he killed her to another spot. Perhaps our killer is that slavishly devoted to following the original murders.”

“It’s worth a try.”

They mounted their horses again and trotted back the way they had come, taking the narrow path that led toward Holcomb Manor. When they reached the edge of the woods, they dismounted and walked into the trees, leading their horses.

“This is the place where the twins found their dog,” Anna said, pointing. “I still wonder if his wounds might have been caused by the same person. They were similar. Or maybe it was his pain I felt that day. The spot is not far from here.”