Page 69 of A Murder is Going Down

‘If it really was her,’ Patrick reminds me.

‘And it’s doubly weird that someone else was skulking around outside the house the night Felix died,’ I add.

‘Have you considered it might just have been Felix?’ Patrick asks

‘The path doesn’t go that close to the house, though. Why would he be walking there? And like Haruto said – how would he fall to the water from there?’

‘Is this the sound of you letting it go?’ Patrick asks as we reach the bus stop.

‘It is not.’

‘I was being sarcastic.’

‘I know.’

‘If you’re not letting it go, what are you going to do?’ Patrick asks.

‘I don’t know.’

It’s the truth.

Now

‘This is taking forever,’ Marianne says.

‘Then stop interrupting me.’

Then

We get home to find Ben’s car parked on the street outside. Perfect. Ben’s on his phone and doesn’t notice us at first.

‘He’s here to pick me up,’ Lilia says, sounding annoyed. ‘I told him I’d Uber.’

‘Nothing hotter than a boyfriend who doesn’t listen to you,’ Patrick says. ‘Coming, Heidi?’

‘Hold on, Heidi,’ Lilia says, ‘can I speak to you … just for a sec?’

Patrick raises his eyebrows at me, but I hold up two fingers and he goes inside.

‘What is it?’ I ask.

‘I want to say thanks for, you know, including me today,’ Lilia says. ‘I’ve really missed hanging out with you.’

‘That’s not my fault,’ I tell my shoes, reverting to my default setting of being a little bit rude.

‘I know,’ she says quickly. ‘I’m the monster here, but I still want to say thanks and sorry, too, foreverything.’

Everything(i.e. Ben) notices us and opens the driver’s side door.

‘You ready?’ Ben asks.

‘See ya,’ Lilia says to me quickly, then hurries to her side of the car before Ben can get out.

I go inside without waiting to see them drive off.

Elena is sitting alone in the living room, reading a book she sets down in her lap when I come in. ‘Hey Heidi, how’re you going?’

‘Fine.’ I drop onto the couch, still thinking about the Lilia and Ben of it all.