Eleanor turned to Nick, stricken. “He’ll kill her.”
“No,” Nick said. “He won’t. She’s his insurance policy. She’s no good to him dead.”
But he knew he was taking chances now. He had a talent for predicting actions and calculating outcomes but Norburn was wound upvery tight. Rage and panic created an explosive tension. People who lost control were highly volatile, less predictable.
Nick and Rex reached the kitchen just in time to see Norburn and Linda at the back door. Norburn no longer had Linda by the throat. Securing a captive in that way was awkward, after all, especially when you were trying to run. He now had his fist clamped around Linda’s upper right arm.
“Open the door,” Norburn ordered.
She obeyed. Norburn charged through first, intent on pulling her after him.
The toe of his shoe caught on the garden twine that Nick had strung across the back door a few inches off the floor.
Norburn yelped. In a frantic effort to keep his balance, he released Linda, dropped the pocketknife, and flailed wildly. But it was too late. He had too much momentum.
He toppled forward, slamming chest-first on the floor of the porch with enough force to send a shudder through the wooden boards.
“Guard,” Nick said to Rex.
The dog leaped forward and took up a threatening post near Gilford’s head.
“Get that dog away from me,” Gilford said.
Everyone, including Rex, ignored him.
Nick stripped off his necktie and crouched to bind Norburn’s wrists behind his back.
Wailing sirens shattered the early-morning silence of the neighborhood.
“The police are here,” Eleanor said. “Thank heavens. Linda, are you all right, dear?”
“Yes.” Linda wrapped her arms around her midsection. She gazed at Gilford. Shock and disbelief were starting to give way to fury. “You were right about him, Aunt Eleanor.”
Eleanor put a comforting arm around her. “I’m so sorry, darling.”
Nick got to his feet.
“You can’t prove anything,” Gilford hissed.
But his voice was weaker now, as if he was trying to convince himself.
“All I have to do is make sure that every newspaper in the city knows that you married Linda under false pretenses and took out a life insurance policy on her, just as you did after you married those other women,” Nick said. “You lied about your name. You lied about your previous marriages. You lied about your finances.”
“You don’t know anything about my finances,” Gilford roared. “That’s private information.”
“I’m sure Linda’s lawyer will be able to get those details,” Nick said.
Gilford’s jaw clenched. “My wife doesn’t have a lawyer.”
“You’re wrong, Norburn,” Eleanor said. “Linda does have a lawyer—my personal attorney.”
Two uniformed officers appeared around the corner of the house.
“No one answered the door,” one of them said. “Thought we’d better have a look back here. What’s going on?”
Eleanor pointed at Gilford. “That man on the floor is my niece’s husband. He was planning to murder her for the insurance money. Mr. Sundridge stopped him.”
The officer’s eyes narrowed in a thoughtful expression. “Nick Sundridge?”
