Rules for Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson Page 0,55

she understood how important solitude was to him. How she loved him in her own way.

I stayed for two beers, aware the whole time that my phone might ring, or buzz, with a message from Gwen. When they ordered dinner, I said that I’d leave, that I had food at home to cook, which was a lie, but Brian was starting to slur a little and I wanted to get out before the monologues started.

Before I left, I said, “Did you hear about Elaine Johnson?”

“Who?” Brian said.

“Elaine Johnson. She used to come into the store every day before she moved to Maine. Coke bottle glasses.”

“Sure,” Brian said, and I was surprised that Tess, to my right, was nodding along as well.

“She died. Of a heart attack.”

“How’d you hear about that?”

I almost told him, told the two of them, I guess, about Agent Mulvey, and the list, but stopped myself, for some reason.

“Another customer told me,” I lied. “Just thought you might be interested.”

“Good riddance to her,” Tess said, and I turned toward her, surprised.

“You knew her?” I said.

“Sure. She cornered me at one of Brian’s readings to tell me what a hack he was. I told her I was his wife, and she burst out laughing, asked me if I read his books before I married him. I’ll never forget it.”

Brian was smiling. “She was all right, actually. I remember her now. Told me once her favorite writer was James Crumley, so I figured she couldn’t be all bad. She moved to Rockland, in Maine, didn’t she?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Emily, probably, last time I did a shift at Old Devils. She keeps track of all the problem customers for me.”

“Huh,” I said, slightly annoyed that Brian, who saw Emily probably every three months, seemed to have a better relationship with her than I did.

Tess walked me out. I wondered why, but when we got to the sidewalk, she said, “This stupid accident has changed him completely. He’s terrified of everything now. Walking. Getting out of bed. Doing anything. I can stay with him but not forever. I’ve got the store in Florida and I just can’t deal with him all the time, and I’m not sure he can deal with me.”

“Maybe you should get some help?”

“Exactly. That’s what I’ve told him a hundred times, but he doesn’t want to hear it. Look, if we have you over for dinner some night, will you bring it up for me? Maybe if he hears it from someone else …”

“Sure,” I said.

“Thanks, Mal. I appreciate it. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do absolutely anything for Brian, and he’d do absolutely anything for me, but helping him get out of a bathtub was not part of the deal.” She pushed a strand of her long dark hair behind one of her ears, then leaned in and kissed me on the lips before pulling me in for a hug. She’d done this before, even in front of Brian, who never seemed to mind.

Tess shivered in my arms as we hugged. “How do you stand this weather?” she said as she released me. Walking home I could smell her on my skin. A lemony perfume and the smell of olives from her martini.

I ate cereal for dinner that night, read some more of The Secret History, and waited for Gwen to get in touch. I sent her one more text before going to sleep, saying that I hoped everything was all right. And it was her face I thought of as I lay in bed, not my wife’s.

CHAPTER 18

The door buzzer went off at just past eight the following morning. I was up already and dressed, starting to brew some coffee.

I pressed the intercom and a male voice came over, saying that his name was Agent Berry and asking if he could come up. In the interval it took for the two sets of footsteps to loudly climb the stairs I had enough time to think about what to do when the questions came. I made several quick assumptions. They were here either to arrest me, or to question me about the death of Eric Atwell or Norman Chaney or both. The reason Gwen hadn’t returned my messages the day before was because I had become a suspect in a homicide.

I went to my door and opened it. Agent Berry was tall and stoop shouldered, dressed in a pin-striped suit. He showed his FBI identification, reintroduced himself, and said he had come up from the New