Page 75 of Girl, Empty

‘Dennis Roth.Your husband.Tell me what happened to him.’

Genuine surprise broke through Susan’s blank mask.‘How did you know… about Dennis?’

‘I read it in a newspaper.’

‘Dennis died.’

‘And Calvin didn’t take it well, did he?’

Tears welled up in Susan’s eyes.Cognitive decline or not, she still held that particular memory close.‘No he didn’t.Poor boy.I don’t know why.Dennis was a… piece of work.’

‘You didn’t love him?’

‘Oh I loved him.Had to.But he was a bad man.Very violent.Calvin didn’t know.’

‘Do you think Dennis was murdered?’

Susan glanced out of the window and then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.‘I know he was.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because… you know he used to eat the same thing every day?I used to make his lunch.Cheese sandwich and berries.Too much of one thing.It’s bad for you.’

Susan’s tone had shifted.She was talking like she’d rehearsed the lines.Ella tried to put herself in this woman’s head for a moment, to infer a new meaning through a mundane comment about lunch, because she was convinced there had to be one.

‘Is that right?’

‘Oh yes.Too many… berries.’

The air went out of Ella’s lungs.Just like that, a fifteen-year-old case had a simple explanation, but the past was a luxury and the present was a ticking clock.For all she knew, Calvin could have his next victim in his sights already.

‘I understand, Susan, but Calvin hasn’t gotten over his dad’s death.Three people are now dead in Indianapolis, all in similar locations that your husband died in, in locked rooms.Do you see?’

‘No, no, no.Calvin is a good kid.He always blamed the other one.Kevin.Do you know Kevin?’

‘I don’t know any Kevin.Who is he?’

‘Kevin Wolfe.That’s Wolfe with an ‘e’.

A new name.A new vector.‘Who’s Kevin Wolfe?’

‘The boss.At Elan, Dennis’s old company.Me and Kevin were lovers, then I fell for Dennis.When Dennis died…’

It was uncharacteristically coherent for a dementia sufferer, which meant she’d been replaying this story in her head for many years.‘And Calvin blamed his dad’s death on this Kevin Wolfe fellow?’Ella asked.

‘Yes.They didn’t like each other.Never did.Kevin got the blame, but he didn’t…’

‘And you never thought to tell Calvin the truth?’

Susan just shook her head.Ella committed the name to memory.Kevin Wolfe.Owner of a company called Elan.If this was all borne from that one incident years ago, then this was a revenge spree, and revenge killers always ended up targeting the source of their rage.

‘Susan, I need you to think.Where would Calvin be?I can see you know… something.’

‘He loved science, my boy.Before he got into all that computer business.He liked that one scientist.The one in the wheelchair.What’s his name?’

‘Stephen Hawking?’

‘Yes.Hawking.Calvin’s got something he said on his wall over there.’Susan gestured with a shaky hand.‘Look up at the stars, not down at your feet.He always loved that line.You understand?’