"
Listen
,
"
he
said
.
"
I've
got
something
to
tell
you
.
"
?
"
What
is
it
,
?
What's
the
matter
?
"
?
He
became
absolutely
motionless
,
and
he
kept
his
head
down
.
"
This
is
going
to
be
a
big
shock
to
you
,
I'm
afraid
,
"
he
said
.
"
But
I've
thought
about
it
a
good
deal
and
I've
decided
that
the
only
thing
to
do
is
to
tell
you
.
"
And
he
told
her
.
It
didn't
take
long
,
four
or
five
minutes
at
most
,
and
she
sat
still
through
it
all
,
watching
him
with
puzzled
.
?
"
So
there
it
is
,
"
he
added
.
"
And
I
know
it's
a
tough
time
to
be
telling
you
this
,
but
there
simply
wasn't
any
other
way
.
Of
course
,
I'll
give
you
and
see
that
you're
taken
care
of
.
But
there
really
shouldn't
be
any
problem
.
I
hope
not
,
in
any
case
.
It
wouldn't
be
very
good
for
my
job
.
"
?
Her
first
instinct
was
not
to
believe
any
of
it
.
She
thought
that
perhaps
she'd
the
whole
thing
.
Perhaps
,
if
she
acted
as
though
she
had
not
heard
him
,
she
would
find
out
that
none
of
it
had
ever
happened
.
?
"
I'll
fix
some
supper
,
"
she
.
When
she
walked
across
the
room
,
she
couldn't
feel
her
feet
touching
the
floor
.
She
couldn't
feel
anything
except
a
slight
sickness
.
She
did
everything
without
thinking
.
She
went
downstairs
to
the
freezer
and
took
hold
of
the
first
object
she
found
.
She
lifted
it
out
,
and
looked
at
it
.
It
was
wrapped
in
paper
,
so
she
took
off
the
paper
and
looked
at
again
-
-
-
a
leg
of
lamb
.
?
All
right
,
then
,
they
would
have
lamb
for
.
She
carried
it
upstairs
,
held
the
thin
end
with
both
her
hands
.
She
went
into
the
living
room
,
saw
him
standing
by
the
window
with
his
back
to
her
,
and
stopped
.
?
"
I've
already
told
you
,
"
he
said
.
"
Don't
make
supper
for
me
.
I'm
going
out
.
"
?
At
that
point
,
Mary
Maloney
simply
walked
up
behind
him
and
without
any
pause
,
she
swung
the
big
frozen
leg
of
high
in
the
air
and
brought
it
down
as
hard
as
she
could
on
the
back
of
his
head
.
She
might
as
well
have
hit
him
with
a
steel
bar
.
?
She
stepped
back
,
waiting
,
and
the
strange
thing
was
that
he
remained
standing
there
for
at
least
four
or
five
.
Then
he
crashed
onto
the
carpet
.
?
The
violence
of
the
crash
,
the
noise
,
the
small
table
overturning
,
helped
to
bring
her
out
of
the
.
She
came
out
slowly
,
feeling
cold
and
surprised
,
and
she
stood
for
a
few
minutes
,
looking
at
the
body
,
still
holding
the
piece
of
meat
tightly
with
both
hands
.
?
All
right
,
she
told
herself
.
So
I've
him
.
It
was
extraordinary
,
now
,
how
clear
her
mind
became
all
of
a
sudden
.
She
began
thinking
very
fast
.
As
the
wife
of
a
detective
,
she
knew
what
the
punishment
would
be
.
It
made
no
difference
to
her
.
In
fact
,
it
would
be
a
relief
.
On
the
other
hand
,
what
about
the
baby
?
What
were
the
laws
about
murderers
with
unborn
?
Did
they
kill
them
both
-
-
mother
and
child
?
Did
they
wait
until
the
baby
was
born
?
What
did
they
do
?
Mary
Maloney
didn't
know
and
she
wasn't
prepared
to
take
a
chanc
e