Liz found Germaine in her office at the inn, adding up receipts. "Come on in, kiddo, and sit yourself down," Germaine said. "You look beat; didn't you sleep last night?"
"Off and on," Liz said, sinking into a chair.
"You still thinking about your discovery at Lake Whitney?"
Liz nodded. "Can't get it off my mind."
"I can't get it off my guests' minds," Germaine said, giving up the calculator and turning in her chair to face Liz. "If I'd let them, they'd all be trooping up there to take pictures of the gator. I've had to tell my girls who conduct the nature tours not to let anybody out of the van when they're near the lake. All I need is to have a guest eaten."
Liz managed a smile. "From their reaction to Jimmy's demise, it sounds like having a guest eaten would be good for business."
Germaine laughed. "Maybe you're right." She jotted a note on a pad. "Choose guest to send to Lake Whitney on foot. I've got just the one, too; he sent the wine back last night; I had to drink it myself, and now I'm hung over."
"Poor Germaine."
"And that's not the worst of it. Ron went back to school yesterday, and I'm already horny. What am I going to do?"
"Poor, poor Germaine! Hung over and horny."
"I can see I'm not going to get any sympathy from somebody who's so well supplied with a man. How is my little brother, anyway? I haven't seen him for days."
"I'm not sure," Liz replied.
"You haven't seen him either?"
"I saw him last night, but I'm not sure how he is. It was the first time I've seen him depressed."
"Well, you're one up on me; I've never seen either of them depressed. They've always been the happiest people I know."
"Germaine, Keir's got me worried about something, and I don't know who else to ask about it but you."
"Shoot. I'll help if I can."
"It's something he said to me last night. He said he couldn't love somebody without destroying something else."
Germaine looked astonished. "Keir said that?"
"He did."
"I've never heard either Keir or Hamish say anything of the sort, and if I heard it from anybody else but you, I wouldn't believe it. Certainly it has no foundation in any fact I'm aware of."
"There's something else. He said it in connection with Jimmy; it was almost as if he were saying he had something to do with Jimmy's death." Germaine said nothing, just looked at her.
"Do you think Keir is capable of… I mean, he was very upset about your grandfather's refusal to make a will-he said that if Angus died intestate, Jimmy would automatically inherit a chunk of the island."
Germaine looked as if she was trying to decide how to respond. "No," she said finally, "I don't think Keir could do that, no matter how much he hated Jimmy. He's right about the line of inheritance, though."
"Then what was he talking about?"
"I think you'd better screw up your courage and ask him."
"I don't think I have that much courage."
"Then you'd better learn to live with it."
Liz sighed. "There's something else. I think I may have contributed to… whatever is bothering Keir. There was something I knew that I didn't tell him until last night. I haven't told you or Hamish, either, even though Angus didn't really ask me not to."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Angus invited me to dinner awhile back-right after his lawyer was here with the congressman and the Forestry Service people. After dinner, he produced a will and asked me to witness it." Germaine's eyes grew wide.
"He's made a will, then? You're sure?"
"I'm sure. He told me that he had made it himself, without his lawyer's help, and that he was of sound mind and all that, and that he wanted me to witness it."
Germaine leaned forward in her chair. "What did it say?"
"I don't know. I only saw the signature page. He did say, though, that he had arranged things so that Jimmy wouldn't be able to get his hands on any of the island."
"Well, that's a moot point, now. The important thing is that he's made the will, although with Jimmy out of the picture, it probably won't make much difference. Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"I was worried that might seem to be meddling in your family business."
"You aren't meddling; you just did what he asked you to. It was a perfectly straightforward thing to do."
"There's something else, something that may make me seem the meddler again."
"Oh, no, Liz," Germaine said. "I know he likes you a lot, but I hope you don't mean he's made you a beneficiary."
"Please don't be alarmed about that, Germaine. I know I'm not a beneficiary, because he said the reason he was asking me to witness the will was that I was the only person around who didn't have an interest in it."
Germaine leaned over and placed a hand on Liz's arm. "Please forgive me; I know I must have sounded like the disinherited relative talking to my grandfather's doxy."
"It's all right; I understand."
"A will has to have two witnesses, though, doesn't it?"
"Yes. He said he would find another one."
"I wonder who? He was right; you're about the only person he knows who isn't mentioned in the will; certainly he would remember the servants."
"There's something else," Liz said slowly.
"What?"
"I think I am truly meddling in family business, now, but it might be worse if I didn't. I couldn't tell Keir this last night; I thought he might be too depressed to react properly."
"What are you talking about, sugar?"
"It's James Moses."
"You mean he's mentioned in the will? I should hope so, after all the help he's been to Grandpapa."
"James may be a more… significant part of the will than that."
"How do you mean, more significant?"
"Angus told me that James is his son."
Germaine's face collapsed. "He what?"
"Surely that doesn't come as a complete surprise? There is a resemblance, after all."
Germaine put a hand to her breast. "Surprise? Honey, that's the single greatest shock I've had in my life!"
"I thought everybody in the family must at least suspect it was true."
She could see Germaine's mind begin to work, now. "Well, I wasn't around when James was born. My ex had taken me away at that point. I guess James must have been five or six when I came back to the island." Liz waited while Germaine's mind got around to the point.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Germaine said suddenly. "I hope to God he has made a will, because if he hasn't…"
"Keir told me about Aldred Drummond's will, about how the estate would be divided if the owner died intestate."
"The children inherit first, then the grandchildren,"
Germaine breathed. "So that must not be how Angus wants it to happen; otherwise, he wouldn't have made the will." Germaine laughed. "It's just coming to me; James Moses is my… Well, I'll be… shit, I almost said, I'll be a monkey's uncle. That's wrong; I'm a monkey's niece!"
"Germaine!"
"I'm sorry, I know it's not nice to call them monkeys. I'm just a little addled, I guess, having found a brand-new uncle."
"Are you upset?"
"Just stunned."
"I'm sorry I shocked you so. I figured you must have an idea about it. Do you think Hamish and Keir know?"
"Probably. They're smarter than I am."
"Well, why don't you see if Hamish knows, and I'll tell Keir."
Germaine shrugged. "Okay."
Liz got up to go. "Germaine, your grandfather loves you and the twins; he wouldn't do something crazy at your expense, even if he loves James, too."
Germaine put her head in her hands. "Jesus, I hope not."
That night, Keir took the news about his new uncle differently. "I've always liked James." He shrugged. "I guess I can't like him any less because he's my grandfather's son." He smiled wryly. "It's a good thing Jimmy isn't around to hear the news. Jimmy would have murdered the boy."