Shutter Island(43)

She smoothed the hem of the smock under her thighs and looked at Teddy and Chuck with a child’s air of expectation.

There wasn’t mark on her.

Her skin was the color of sandstone. Her face and arms and legs were unblemished. Her feet were bare, and the skin was free of scratches, untouched by branches or thorns or rocks.

“How can I help you?” she asked Teddy.

“Miss Solando, we came here to—”

“Sell something?”

“Ma’am?”

“You’re not here to sell something, I hope. I don’t want to be rude, but my husband makes all those decisions.”

“No, ma’am. We’re not here to sell anything.”

“Well, that’s fine, then. What can I do for you?”

“Could you tell me where you were yesterday?”

“I was here. I was home.” She looked at Cawley. “Who are these men?”

Cawley said, “They’re police officers, Rachel.”

“Did something happen to Jim?”

“No,” Cawley said. “No, no. Jim’s fine.”

“Not the children.” She looked around. “They’re right out in the yard. They didn’t get into any mischief, did they?”

Teddy said, “Miss Solando, no. Your children aren’t in any trouble. Your husband’s fine.” He caught Cawley’s eye and Cawley nodded in approval. “We just, um, we heard there was a known subversive in the area yesterday. He was seen on your street passing out Communist literature.”

“Oh, dear Lord, no. To children?”

“Not as far as we know.”

“But in this neighborhood? On this street?”

Teddy said, “I’m afraid so, ma’am. I was hoping you could account for your whereabouts yesterday so we’d know if you ever crossed paths with the gentleman in question.”

“Are you accusing me of being a Communist?” Her back came off the pillows and she bunched the sheet in her fists.

Cawley gave Teddy a look that said: You dug the hole. You dig your way out.

“A Communist, ma’am? You? What man in his right mind would think that? You’re as American as Betty Grable. Only a blind man could miss that.”

She unclenched one hand from the sheet, rubbed her kneecap with it. “But I don’t look like Betty Grable.”

“Only in your obvious patriotism. No, I’d say you look more like Teresa Wright, ma’am. What was that one she did with Joseph Cotton, ten—twelve years ago?”

“Shadow of a Doubt. I’ve heard that,” she said, and her smile managed to be gracious and sensual at the same time. “Jim fought in that war. He came home and said the world was free now because Americans fought for it and the whole world saw that the American way was the only way.”

“Amen,” Teddy said. “I fought in that war too.”

“Did you know my Jim?”

“’Fraid not, ma’am. I’m sure he’s a fine man. Army?”

She crinkled her nose at that. “Marines.”

“Semper fi,” Teddy said. “Miss Solando, it’s important we know every move this subversive made yesterday. Now you might not have even seen him. He’s a sneaky one. So we need to know what you did so that we can match that against what we know about where he was, so we can see if you two may have ever passed each other.”

“Like ships in the night?”

“Exactly. So you understand?”

“Oh, I do.” She sat up on the bed and tucked her legs underneath her, and Teddy felt her movements in his stomach and groin.

“So if you could walk me through your day,” he said.

“Well, let’s see. I made Jim and the children their breakfast and then I packed Jim’s lunch and Jim left, and then I sent the children off to school and then I decided to take a long swim in the lake.”

“You do that often?”

“No,” she said, leaning forward and laughing, as if he’d made a pass at her. “I just, I don’t know, I felt a little kooky. You know how you do sometimes? You just feel a little kooky?”

“Sure.”

“Well, that’s how I felt. So I took off all my clothes and swam in the lake until my arms and legs were like logs, they were so heavy, and then I came out and dried off and put my clothes right back on and took a long walk along the shore. And I skipped some stones and built several small sand castles. Little ones.”

“You remember how many?” Teddy asked and felt Cawley staring at him.

She thought about it, eyes tilted toward the ceiling. “I do.”

“How many?”

“Thirteen.”

“That’s quite a few.”

“Some were very small,” she said. “Teacup-size.”

“And then what did you do?”

“I thought about you,” she said.

Teddy saw Naehring glance over at Cawley from the other side of the bed. Teddy caught Naehring’s eye, and Naehring held up his hands, as surprised as anyone.

“Why me?” Teddy said.

Her smile exposed white teeth that were nearly clamped together except for a tiny red tip of tongue pressed in between. “Because you’re my Jim, silly. You’re my soldier.” She rose on her knees and reached out and took Teddy’s hand in hers, caressed it. “So rough. I love your calluses. I love the bump of them on my skin. I miss you, Jim. You’re never home.”