Blood Relatives by Ed McBain

like that, but at the same time not to hurt his feelings. Because they were very close, you know, everybody said they were just like brother and sister.
    CARELLA : What happened then?
    PATRICIA : He said…it’s really hard to believe this. I still can’t believe this was my brother saying these things, or…or doing what he—
    CARELLA : All right, Patricia.
    PATRICIA : I’m sorry.
    CARELLA : That’s all right, take your time.
    PATRICIA : I’m sorry, forgive me.
    KLING : Here, use one of these.
    PATRICIA : Thank you. It’s…it’s just, you see, I expected him to laugh or something, but instead he said, I’m not kidding, Mure, take off your dress. And when I turned to look at him, he was holding the knife in his hand.
    CARELLA : You hadn’t seen the knife before then?
    PATRICIA : No. He must’ve had it in his pants pocket or something. Or maybe in his belt. I don’t know. He just pulled it out and there it was in his hand.
    CARELLA : The knife you identified for us earlier today?
    PATRICIA : Yes.
    CARELLA : Is this the knife, Patricia?
    PATRICIA : Yes. That’s the knife Andy pulled out.
    CARELLA : And he told Muriel he wasn’t kidding.
    PATRICIA : Yes. About taking off her dress, he meant. He meant he wasn’t kidding about telling her to take off the dress.
    CARELLA : What happened then?
    PATRICIA : Well, Muriel, I guess she…I’m not sure about this, but I think she giggled. And he…he pushed the knife at her, and…and grabbed her by the wrist and she started to scream and he told her to shut up. Then, still holding her by the wrist, he forced her down on her knees and said…said things to her.
    CARELLA : What things?
    PATRICIA : He told her to…to…He was holding the knife on her. He said, Go on, take it, I know you want it. I was watching them, I didn’t know what to do or say, I just kept watching them. I was so shocked, you see. They were cousins. He was making his own cousin do this, his own cousin. It was still pouring. I could hear the rain outside and Muriel grunting, or moaning, on her knees there, with his…with the knife…with…with—
    CARELLA : Okay, Patricia.
    PATRICIA : I’m sorry.
    CARELLA : Okay now.
    PATRICIA : Then he…he started sticking the knife in her. He started stabbing her all over, I couldn’t… This was my brother doing this…my brother… I couldn’t…And then he turned to me, and he said, All right, honey, you’re next, something like that, and I said, Andy, you’re crazy, and he said,Get down on your knees, and I said, Andy, I’m your sister, and he said, So what, you’re going to…I can’t say it. I’m sorry, I can’t say it.
    CARELLA : That’s all right.
    PATRICIA : Do I have to say it?
    CARELLA : Not if you don’t want to.
    PATRICIA : He said…oh my God, I can’t believe it, I still can’t believe he said this to me…he said I was going to…I would have to…I would have to…to do what Muriel had done, and…I can’t say it, I’m sorry. I can’t use the words he used.
    CARELLA : All right, Patricia.
    PATRICIA : And then he began stabbing me. He slashed me on the hands and on the face, he just kept slashing with the knife, and I must have kicked him, I really don’t remember, but he was on the floor moaning, so I know I must’ve done something, and I ran away from him. I could only think he had lost his mind. I could only think my brother had gone crazy. I didn’t tell you any of this before because I…I still love him, you see, he’s my brother. But he’s got to pay for what he did, I know he’s got to pay. When I saw him at the funeral this morning, and he jumped on the coffin that way, I knew he had everybody fooled, saying he loved Muriel, beating his chest that way and yelling so everybody could hear, Muriel, wake up, say you’re not dead, whatever it is he was yelling there, I love you, Muriel, I love you. No, I had to tell you everything I knew, I had to make sure he got punished, the way Muriel was punished.
    It was 8:07