Chapter 21
Hiram House
Hamilton County, New York
The moment the first rays of sun streamed through the east-facing windows in Jack and Laurie’s bedroom, Jack’s eyes blinked open.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he slipped out of bed and hustled barefooted over to the velvet blackout curtains that he had purposefully left open, and careful to be as silent as possible, he closed them.
Although he had wanted to wake up with the sun, he knew that Laurie certainly wouldn’t, as he’d been vaguely aware she had read her Jane Austen novel late into the night.
With newly gained freedom to indulge his growing interest in Bob’s fascinating and developing conundrums, there were several things he was eager to do: Chief among them was to meet with Melanie to learn what he could about the dementia patients.
He also had hopes of a breakthrough involving Ethan Jameson’s AWOL body.
If and when that turned up, he was more eager than ever to assist Bob with the autopsy.
As far as Laurie was concerned, she had made plans to go on a hike with Carol to a series of connected waterfalls called the Cascades.
Carol had lauded it as the best and most scenic hike in the entire area.
With the drapes taken care of, Jack moved on “little cat feet” into the attached changing room where he and Laurie were living out of their carry-on bags.
After closing the connecting French doors, he changed out of his pajamas and into his swimsuit.
Like the previous morning, he was intent on taking a wake-up swim.
From the linen closet just outside the massive master bathroom, he took a fresh towel.
Out in the hall, he checked to make certain Warren and Jada’s door was closed and even paused for a few beats to see if he heard any sounds of movement within.
The night before, Jada had said that if she was awake, she’d join him, but Jack didn’t hear a peep.
Warren had said that the only way he would do it was under the threat of death.
Their plan for the day was to drive over to Lake Placid, which Google Maps said was a two-hour drive.
They both had heard kudos about it but had never seen it.
Once outside, Jack paused briefly to appreciate the view of the calm lake, the distant Adirondack Mountains, and the dawning day.
It promised again to be gorgeous weather.
At the moment there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but he guessed cumulus clouds like yesterday’s would gather as the temperature climbed.
Even though the sun was just peeking over the eastern horizon, he could already sense its summertime intensity.
Glancing to the left he was able to catch a glimpse of the pool, pool house, barbecue, and firepit through the birch trees.
Seeing the area reminded him of the pleasant time they’d had the night before with their barbecue, thanks to Jada’s generosity and the fabulous New York strip steaks she’d brought.
Bob and Carol had come along with Melanie, so had Bill and Grace.
The person Jack had not expected was Janet Huber.
In the rush to get ready, Laurie had forgotten to tell him that she and Jada had met Janet at Pilates and had been so impressed with her that they’d invited her.
Jack had been particularly happy she had come and not only because she was an extremely pleasant person to be around but also because he’d been able to finish his conversation with her concerning Ethan Jameson.
Thanks to her, Jack had learned that Ethan had been an exceptionally fiery individual who was quick to anger and quick to act out, and as far as she was concerned, these characteristics had been getting worse and not better.
Even more upsetting from her point of view was that he was also becoming progressively more misogynistic along with being receptive to white supremacist ideology, and she blamed this on his interaction with the militiamen from Holland.
In response, Jack had communicated to her his surprise from having found one of the militiamen, Alexei, to be reserved but personable and respectful like all the Dutch people Jack had met when he’d visited Amsterdam.
At that point Janet admitted that she’d not met any of the Netherlanders in person and only heard about them through Ethan, so she was quick to admit that her impression they were to blame could very well be unfounded.
Turning his attention away from the memory of the dinner party, Jack looked back at the lake. As the sun had now completely cleared the eastern horizon, the color of its mirror-like surface had changed from its original dull gray to an intense cerulean blue.
Eager to get into the water, Jack jogged down to the dock.
Skirting the overturned canoe, he went out to the end and put his towel on one of the Adirondack chairs.
Turning around, he then put his toes over the end of the dock, pretending it was a diving board, and prepared himself for an invigorating plunge.
But then he held back. Thinking about a diving board made him focus across the lake at the Bennet Estate, and just as he did so, he could just make out someone using the springboard.
Because of the distance there was no sound.
Feeling a tinge of inappropriate jealousy, he found himself wondering if it was Alexei and guessed it was from what the man had said the previous afternoon.
Storing the image in his mind, Jack decided to ask him the next time he saw him at basketball if it had been he using the board early Friday morning.
Jack stared at the canoe for a moment, and the idea briefly passed through his mind to put the boat in the water and paddle across the lake to ask Alexei to use the springboard.
But then reality stepped in. Paddling a canoe the half-mile or so across the lake would take too much time, meaning Alexei, if it even was him, would have long since gone into the house.
That would mean Jack would be using the diving board without permission, which he thought would be rather presumptuous.
With a shake of his head, he turned back around.
After just barely seeing whoever it was make yet another dive, Jack dove into the lake himself.
Descending down somewhere around ten feet, enough to be forced to clear his ears, Jack was surprised at how cold the water was.
Surfacing, he then vigorously swam out from the dock some forty or fifty feet, expending maximum effort to generate significant heat.
Turning around, he swam back at the same pace and then immediately hoisted himself out of the water. So much for his morning swim.
Back in the house, he returned to the master bath.
After shaving and quickly showering, he dressed.
Following a check on Laurie, who had not moved, as well as another fruitless listen outside Warren and Jada’s room for any sounds, he descended to the kitchen and made himself a quick but substantial breakfast. He then left a short note on the refrigerator saying he’d gone into town and would be at the Bennet Clinic.
Twenty minutes later he was on his Trek, leaving the Cherokee for Laurie.
The ride was a joy, and once again Jack cycled at an impressive speed but still was capable of enjoying the remarkable scenery sprinkled with morning dew.
By then the sun had climbed significantly, and a few small cumulus clouds had already formed over the reservoir.
When he reached Main Street he didn’t slow down as there was almost no traffic.
The only establishment that showed any activity was Ted’s Diner, apparently offering breakfast to a few early risers.
As Jack approached the end of Main Street, he began to coast. As he banked into the turn at Bennet Avenue, he applied his brakes.
A split second later he came to an abrupt stop abreast the clinic’s double doors.
Planning on putting his bike in the same empty office as he had the previous day, Jack reached out and gave one of the double doors a good yank.
To his surprise it didn’t budge. He tried the other.
A moment later it dawned on him that Melanie had yet to arrive.
For a moment Jack stood at the Bennet Clinic entrance and chided himself for not checking with Melanie what time she might arrive that morning.
He glanced at his watch. It was still significantly before eight.
Imagining that she’d arrive by eight as she’d said when they first met, he debated what to do in the interim.
His first thought was to extend his morning bicycle ride by doing a loop on the scenic road that ran the length of the Bennet Reservoir along its northern shore.
To get there, he first had to pedal along the entire length of the abandoned Bennet factory building.
As he did so, he again appreciated its size and that it was going to make a unique five-star hotel with an interesting history.
Just beyond it was a squat, acre-sized, single-story building made of identical brick with similar architectural details that he hadn’t specifically noticed before.
Carved into the granite lintel over its double front door was Bennet Municipal Water Department.
Just as he suspected, the ride out along the reservoir was gorgeous, with the road staying close to the water.
As he neared the eastern end and mildly out of breath, Jack glanced at his watch and saw that just about half the time until eight o’clock had passed.
Slowing down enough to make a U-turn, he accelerated back the way he’d come.
On this occasion as he approached the Bennet Clinic, he saw a blue Honda Civic parked in the building’s parking lot that hadn’t been there earlier. Encouraged, he dismounted and tried the front doors. They were now unlocked.