"It's tough to blame him for that."
"No, it isn't!" Cynthia said it loud enough to turn heads at the adjoining table. "Maybe I didn't want to be protected-still don't-never did! If Jeff had confided in me that he'd found the money, I'd have walked him straight to the police and he might be alive today!"
And I wouldn't be sitting here in this elegant room, listening to classical guitar music and sipping manhattans with the light of my life, Dean thought.
Cynthia read his mind. "Maybe there's another reason why I don't talk about it-some warped sense of guilt because I can't imagine any life without you." He smiled, but she continued.
"Don't go getting a swelled head! You almost blew it-you were just as bad as Jeff back then! You were trying to protect me too- God, why do men think we can't handle anything! Thank heavens I've managed to straighten you out."
"Duly noted," Dean said.
"If you had admitted your suspicions early on that Jeff's death might not have been an accident, perhaps we could have worked together and gotten to the bottom of the whole business before you almost got us both killed."
"Before Jonathan-on-the-spot Winston showed up, with his gun blazing," Dean said, as much to change the subject as give the FBI credit.
"He could have been killed but when you switched the light back on, it blinded Burgess."
"But not Jonathan Winston. He hit Burgess, even if he only wounded him."
"I know it's unchristian, but I'm relieved Burgess is gone." Chip Burgess was killed in a prison knifing before standing trial. "I never wanted to listen to the details of Jeff's death."
"The FBI built a good case against Burgess. His attorney would have gone for a plea bargain."
"The FBI didn't do such a great job before that. I never could understand how Winston was so positive the person you were following was Jeff when you knew all along it was that other horrid man."
Dean gulped and crossed his fingers. "That's because I'm the smartest detective in the world-and I always keep an open mind." He smiled, remembering. "Mr. Jonathan Winston had to back up a step or two and wipe the egg off his face when he realized I saved his bacon after he nearly let a killer get away."
"My hero," she smiled.
"Don't thank me, thank Fred. It was his suggestion about the newspaper subscription that started the whole business rolling- even if it was blind luck."
"You never do give the old gentleman the credit he deserves," she smiled. "You'd better treat him right. I love Fred, almost as much as I love you."