Page 78

"I don't know," he mumbled, half turning to

replace the teeth in his mouth. When he had them in,

he ran a hand over his spikey hair, smoothing it down.

Only his cowlick refused to behave. Now he could

meet my eyes. "Your daughter made so much racket

down there I couldn't sleep. I guess the sight of all of

you in your fancy clothes waiting for guests that didn't

come tickled my sense of humor. "

"You have a very cruel sense of humor, Joel. I

thought you cared for Bart."

"I do love that boy."

"Do you?" I asked sharply. "I don't think so, or

else you would have sympathized." I glanced around

his sparsely furnished room, thinking back. "Weren't

you the one who mailed off the party invitations?" "I don't remember," he said calmly.- "Time

doesn't mean much to an old man like me when it's

growing so short. What happened years ago seems

clearer than what happened a month ago."

"My memory is much better than yours, Joel." I sat down in the one chair he had in his room.

"Bart had an important appointment, and, as I recall,

he turned over that stack of invitations to you. Did

you mail them, Joel?"

"Of course I mailed them!" he snapped angrily.

"But you just said you couldn't remember.

"I remember that day. It took so long, dropping

them in the slot one by one. "

All the time I'd closely watched his eyes.

"You're lying, Joel," said, taking a wild shot in the

dark. "You didn't mail those invitations. You brought

them up here, and in the privacy of this room, you