McCann's Manor by Charlotte Holley Page A

instead of electric lights, of course, and the bookshelves were different; the room wasn't completed back then, you know? There was a fireplace on one of those walls where the bookcases are now."
    "Okay, I get the picture,” Kim said. “What about this Timothy?"
    "The cat, Kim!” she said with exasperation, then added, “He must be the ghost cat—a big, fluffy gray cat. Timothy was lying on the desk, right by Ben's elbow. McCann was upset; he had received a letter from Constance and something she said made him think she wasn't coming to join him. Kim, she was pregnant."
    Kim looked up from her last bite, “What?"
    "Yes. It seems, he had made a trip to see her at the end of summer and they had gotten married in secret; they had consummated their vows and pow, she got pregnant.” She stopped speaking, thought a moment, then continued, “McCann thought his partner had somehow done or said something to make Constance decide she wasn't going to join McCann."
    Kim smiled, “you got all that by seeing him in the library?"
    "Well, yes,” she said, “and I read the letter over his shoulder as he finished writing it. He told her he was planning to buy Spencer out and then he wouldn't have to keep on doing what Spencer wanted all the time. McCann's thoughts were that Spencer was the crook, not him. He called the man a demon to Timothy."
    "Well, what is it they say—every man thinks he is right in his own eyes?” Kim looked at her, her dark blue eyes questioning.
    Liz sighed. “Kim, I'm convinced Spencer was the crook, not McCann, and for whatever reason, he went along with Spencer until he could prove his partner was indeed the bad guy. This thing I saw with McCann and the cat—it was in seventeen-ninety-two—before the house was even finished. McCann didn't go missing until ten years later. He stuck it out, alone and without his love and his child, knowing they were never coming to him, until he could confront Spencer with all his evil deeds."
    Kim cleared away the dishes, shook her head, “Where did you get all the information? Did he tell the cat?"
    "He told the cat he was going to find out what Spencer had done to change Constance's mind if it was the last thing he ever did, and that he was going to get even with him."
    "And the rest?” Kim poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down on a stool.
    "The rest is based on what John said about when McCann went missing,” she said.
    Kim rolled her eyes. “And John knows so much about everything?"
    "Well, maybe not, but he has at least tried to find out. Suppose, as John has said, Spencer is well thought-of in the area—has lots of money, maybe owns lots of property—a regular guy. Maybe McCann has a questionable past. Maybe he gets caught in the act of doing something suspicious. Spencer goes and helps him get out of trouble, thinking perhaps he can use him for dubious actions of his own. The guy has done dishonest things before. He shouldn't mind getting his hands dirty, if the price is right."
    "So he brings McCann out here and sets him up to smuggle for him? Spencer has the solid reputation and just to make sure McCann doesn't become a respectable citizen himself, Spencer starts leaking little dirty ditties about his partner all over the place. Some of it even gets back to Constance and her family?” Kim improvised.
    "Yeah, something like that, Kim. But McCann knows his slick partner is not so clean himself. Spencer is probably blackmailing McCann to keep him working for his business , and McCann just lets on like he is going for it, until he has enough evidence to prove his case against Spencer."
    "Ten years?” Kim asked, stressing the obvious.
    "Maybe it took that long. Anyway, McCann finally gets all the pieces put together and is all set to spring the trap on Spencer..."
    "But Spencer, being the dirty dog he is, has suspected McCann would try something all along and..."
    Liz nodded. “Spencer double crosses McCann and kills him, hides his body