"Nothing, Jimmie," she said at last. "I was foolish enough to hope that
if I came back and had a talk alone with Winnie, we could pick up
where we left off. He's been acting so strangely that he doesn't seem
like himself at all. And so are you. That's what I meant by saying that
you were both in it."
"Virginia," my wife said firmly, "my husband told you to stay out of
this house--and it's my home, too--and now I find you here. Please go
or I'll call the police."
The two women exchanged appraising glances which suggested that they
were both thoroughly enjoying the touch of melodrama that had come into
their well-fed lives.
"No, it's my fault for letting her in," I said. "She sent in word by
Mary--"
"You mean Myrtle."
"--that she would like to see me. I agreed to do so, so you can't blame
her. We talked things over and decided that it's all off--a few moments
of madness, but that's all, and not worth wrecking two marriages for.
Isn't that so, Mrs. Rutherford?"
Virginia shook her head. "No, Winnie, it is not so. Jimmie, I came here
with that gun. It wasn't loaded but the next time it will be. I made
Myrtle or whatever her name is show me in and I told her I would shoot
Winnie if she gave the alarm. Then I told him what I know about him."
"And what is that?" my wife asked.
"That he is not Winnie at all," Virginia declared. "That he is an
imposter, that he and perhaps you had done away with poor old Winnie. I
told him that I wouldn't tell his secret if he paid me to keep silent.
And he told me to call the police."
My wife went over to her and took her hand. "Poor, darling Virginia,"
she murmured, "why don't you go away and have a good rest? You've got
yourself all worked up for a nervous breakdown. Of course it's Winnie.
I'm married to him and I ought to know my own husband, shouldn't I?
You've simply got run down and all, with rationing and war-work. Why
don't you let Jerry send you for a few weeks to the Hartford Sanctuary
for psychoanalysis and a good rest?"
Virginia dashed my wife's hand away. "In other words, you think I'm
crazy!" she snapped.
"No, but I do think you're hysterical. This is Winnie, I'm Jimmie
and you're Virginia Rutherford. We've all been letting ourselves get
over-emotional and this war is a strain on everybody. Don't worry.
Jerry can fix it for you quite easily and I--we both will be glad
to help pay for it, if you're worried about the money. After all,"
Germaine added wryly, "the whole thing is pretty much of a family
affair, isn't it? Let's keep it that way."
Mrs. Rutherford reached over and grabbed the gun from the sofa.
"All right, Germaine Tompkins, murderess," she grated. "If that's the
way you're going to play it, I'll play too. Don't worry about my mind.
Start thinking about the electric chair. Remember, in this state they
execute women who kill their husbands."
Jimmie waited until the door closed behind the doctor's wife. Then she
turned to me with a curious expression of weariness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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