The woman nodded, understanding. She thought sadly of her son, Crispin. He also had wanted to impress people. “Go on,” she said, “I understand that part of it.”
“When I told Sydney about the gun he changed towards me. I know why now. I was just the fool he was looking for, but I didn’t know then. It wasn’t until after I shot Crispin that I knew.”
They all stiffened when he said that. Nick reached forward and seized him by the back of his neck, but Max struck his hand away.
“Wait,” he said.
“So you did shoot him” Emily said, her eyes snapping.
“Oh yes,” George returned, “it was an accident, but I shot him all right. It’s something I’ll never forgive myself for.”
He told them about Cora.
“I don’t understand women,” he explained. “I’ve never had anything to do with them. It all happened so quickly. She rather swept me off my feet. I’ve been very stupid, I’m afraid.”
He went on, explaining every detail, showing them the gun. He explained how Sydney had fixed the trigger and had stolen the cartridge. He pulled out the magazine and demonstrated how easily the gun fired. He told them how careful he had always been never to put a cartridge into the breech.
“I was afraid of accidents,” he said, “but they loaded the gun without telling me. You see, they were determined to make me a murderer.”