第4章 第9節 最も長い夜
The Longest Night
Edwin stood in the doorway, clapping his hands slowly.
"You must be very of yourself," he said to Nora.
Two of his men waited behind him in the dark lane.
Thomas stepped in front of his daughter without a word.
"If I were a younger man, I would you down," he said.
Edwin only smiled, certain that no one could touch him now.
"There can be no evidence left," he said, almost .
"Gabriel is gone, the station is ash, the tape is blank."
He spoke as a man who might have already won everything.
"Your mother must have told you a great many stories."
"Some of them," he added, "may even be true."
Then he said the words that stopped Nora's heart.
"Marion did not drown, and Marion has not died."
"If she were dead, would I still be so careful?" he asked.
Nora's whole body went cold, then hot, then cold again.
"You are lying," she said, though she knew he was not.
"I have kept her safe," Edwin said, "for her own ."
"A sick woman could not survive out there alone."
He must have believed his own and kindness.
To him, keeping her was a form of care.
"Where is she?" Nora demanded, stepping past her father.
"Somewhere the sea protects, and no one ever visits."
If she could reach her mother, none of his power would .
But between her and that place stood Edwin and his men.
The longest night had reached its darkest, coldest hour.