They lay in bed smoking, the glowing embers of the cigarette ends winking into the infinity of the mirrors covering the ceiling.
“ You would be doing her a favor. She’ s already tried to kill herself. She wants to die.”“ I could never do it, Noelle.”“ Couldn’ t you?”
She stroked his naked leg, gently moving up toward his belly, making small circles with the tips of her fingernails.
“ I’ ll help you.”
He started to open his mouth to protest, but Noelle’ s two hands had found him, and they began working on him, moving in opposite directions, one softly and slowly, the other one hard and quickly. And Larry moaned and reached for her and put Catherine out of his mind.
Sometime during the night Larry awakened in a cold sweat. He had dreamed that Noelle had run away and left him. She was lying in bed next to him, and he took her in his arms and held her close. He lay awake the rest of the night, thinking what it would do to him if he lost her. He was not aware that he had made any decision, but in the morning while Noelle was preparing breakfast, Larry said suddenly,“ What if we’ re caught?”
“ If we’ re clever, we won’ t be.” If she was pleased by his capitulation, she gave no sign of it.
“ Noelle,” he said earnestly,“ every busybody in Athens knows that Catherine and I don’ t get along. If anything happened to her, the police would be damned suspicious.”
“ Of course they would be,” Noelle agreed calmly.“ That is why everything will be planned very carefully.”
She served them both and then sat down and began to eat. Larry pushed his plate away from him, his food untasted.
“ Isn’ t it good?” Noelle asked, concerned.
He stared at her, wondering what kind of person she was, able to enjoy a meal while she was planning the murder of another woman.
Later, sailing on the boat, they talked about it further, and the more they talked about it, the more of a reality it became, so that what had begun as a casual idea had been fleshed out with words until it had become a fact.
“ It must look like an accident,” Noelle said,“ so that there will be no police investigation. The police in Athens are very clever.”
“ What if they should investigate?”“ They won’ t. The accident will not happen here.”“ Where, then?”