"You can't be serious, Nancy !" Philip exclaimed . "Eleanor couldn't have done those things ---- any of them . Just one look at her ought to tell you that ."

"Honestly," Karen agreed . "This whole thing is a farce . Eleanor, let me call Mr. Bishop . He'll straighten all this out ----"

"I'm going with Nancy," Eleanor calmly informed them . "This has gone on long enough, and it's got to stop . I don't want the police arresting the wrong person . You're innocent, all of you . I've got to take responsibility for what I've done ."

"But ---" Philip stopped in midsentence, speechless .

"Mother, no !" Cecilia screamed, tugging at her mother as Eleanor turned toward the door . "Why are you doing this ?"

"I'm sorry, darling," Eleanor told her, kissing Cecilia's forehead . "There's no other way out ."

"But, it's all a lie," Cecilia said, turning to Nancy . "She's innocent ! Innocent !" Cecilia dissolved into tears, her body wracked with wrenching sobs as her mother, slipping gently from her grasp, followed Nancy out the door .

Nancy put an arm around Eleanor's shoulders and let her outside, while Philip and Jack restrained the hysterical Cecilia . The Mustang convertible waited at the bottom of the front steps, its motor running . Nancy opened the passenger door, flipped the front seat forward, and said, "Get in, Eleanor ."

Bess was sitting behind the wheel . Eleanor seemed taken aback to see her there but climbed into the backseat dutifully . Nancy pushed the driver's seat back into position and climbed in beside Bess . "Okay, let's go," Nancy told her friend .

Bess started the car down the long driveway . Her jaw was hanging open in shock . "Eleanor ?' she finally said . "Nan, there's got to be some mistake !"

"No, Bess," Nancy said . "There's no mistake . Eleanor's already confessed ."

"Nan, Eleanor was not the one who threw the brick at Nila," Bess said . "Because I was with her in the house when it happened ."

"What ? Are you sure ?"

"Sure I'm sure," Bess said . "We heard the scream, gave each other a look, and went running for the back door ."

"Bess," Nancy scolded her . "Why didn't you tell me this before ?"

"You didn't ask me !" Bess shot back .

Nancy looked back at the house . She could see the faces clustered at the parlor window, watching them depart . She knew she had to think fast . "Keep driving," she ordered .

Bess turned onto the main road, and the house disappeared from view .

"Okay, now pull over," Nancy said . Bess quickly did as she was told .

"Why are we stopping ?" Eleanor asked from the backseat . "What's going on ?"

"The game's over, Eleanor," Nancy told her . "Who do you think you were fooling ?"

"I ---" An alarmed expression spread across Eleanor's face . "Oh, but that brick falling was probably just an accident ."

"I don't think so," Nancy countered . "Look, Eleanor ---- we want the truth . Now ."

"I --- I don't know what you're talking about . I . . ."

"All right, Bess," Nancy said, getting out of the car . "Take Eleanor for a nice, long drive . Keep her occupied for the next hour or so ."

"Wait !" Eleanor shouted . "Where are you going ?"

"Back to the house," Nancy informed her . "I was lying when I said I knew who the criminal was, but you do know, Eleanor . You've known all along . And now, I know, too ."

"No --- no !" Eleanor cried out .

"When you saw that Nila had swallowed rat poison," Nancy went on, "you switched glasses with her to throw me off the track . Then you tried to throw the rat poison away . Lucky for me I caught you at it . And now you're going so far as to give yourself up in order to save someone else ."

"No !" Eleanor gasped . "No, you've got it all wrong ."

"I don't think so," Nancy said . "In fact, I'm sure I'm right . Okay, Bess, drive on ." Nancy shut the door and the Mustang took off .

Nancy turned back towards the Pierce mansion, walking purposefully and swiftly . Eleanor had been protecting someone . She might also have been hiding evidence . If so, the guilty party might now try to destroy that evidence . There was no time to lose .








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