Alicia thought, and laid the woman on a patch of open ground where, come morning, the sun would find her and cast her ashes to the wind.
Alicia had begun to climb.
A night and a day had passed. She was in the mountains now, ascending a dry creekbed through a slim defile. The feeling of the virals was stronger here: she was headed toward something. Mary, she thought, what were you trying to tell me?
It was nearly dawn by the time she reached the top of the ridge, the horizon jumping away. Below her, in the wind-scraped blackness, the valley floor unfurled, none but the stars for company. Alicia knew it was possible to parse discrete figures from their arbitrary-seeming arrangement, the shapes of people and animals, but she had never learned to do this. They appeared to her only as a random scattering, as if each night the stars were flung anew against the sky.
Then she saw it: a gaping maw of blackness, set in a bowl-like depression. The opening was a hundred feet tall or more. Curved benches, like an amphitheater, carved from the rocky face of the mountain, were situated at the cave’s mouth. Bats were flicking through the sky.
It was a door to hell.
You’re down there, aren’t you? Alicia thought, and smiled. You son of a bitch, I’ve found you.
3
Denver Police Dept.
Case File 193874
District 6
Transcript of Interview with Lila Beatrice Kyle
VIA: Det. Rita Chernow
3 May 4:17 A.M.
RC: Let the record show that the subject has been fully apprised of her rights and has declined to have an attorney present at this interview. Questioning conducted by Detective Rita Chernow, Denver PD, District Six. The time is four-seventeen A.M. Dr. Kyle, would you please state your full name?
LK: Lila Beatrice Kyle.
RC: And you’re an orthopedic surgeon at Denver General Hospital, is that correct?
LK: Yes.
RC: And do you know why you’re here?
LK: Something happened at the hospital. You wanted to ask me some questions. What is this room? I don’t know it.
RC: We’re in the police station, Dr. Kyle.
LK: Am I in trouble?
RC: We talked about this, remember? We’re just trying to figure out what happened in the ER tonight. I know you’re upset. I have just a few questions for you.
LK: There’s blood on me. Why is there blood on me?
RC: Do you recall what happened in the ER, Dr. Kyle?
LK: I’m so tired. Why am I so tired?
RC: Can we get you something? Coffee maybe?
LK: I can’t drink coffee. I’m pregnant.
RC: Water, then? How about some water?
LK: Okay.
(Break.)
RC: So let’s start at the beginning. You were working in the emergency room tonight, is that correct?
LK: No, I was upstairs.
RC: But you came down to the ER?
LK: Yes.
RC: At what time?
LK: I’m not sure. Sometime around one A.M. They paged me.
RC: Why did they page you?
LK: I was the orthopedist on call. They had a patient with a broken wrist.
RC: And was that patient Mr. Letourneau?
LK: I think so, yes.
RC: What else did they tell you about him?
LK: Before I went downstairs, you mean?
RC: Yes.
LK: He had some kind of animal bite.
RC: Like a dog bite?
LK: I suppose so. They didn’t say.
RC: Anything else?
LK: He had a high fever. He’d vomited.
RC: And that’s all they told you?
LK: Yes.
RC: And what did you see when you got to the ER?
LK: He was in the third bed. There were only a couple of other patients. Sunday’s usually quiet.
RC: What time would this be?
LK: One-fifteen, one-thirty.
RC: And did you examine Mr. Letourneau?
LK: No.
RC: Let me rephrase. Did you see the patient?
(Pause.)
RC: Dr. Kyle?
LK: I’m sorry, what was the question?
RC: Did you see Mr. Letourneau tonight in the ER?
LK: Yes. Mark was there, too.
RC: Are you referring to Dr. Mark Shin?
LK: He was the attending. Have you talked to him?
RC: Dr. Shin is dead, Dr. Kyle. He was one of the victims.
LK: (inaudible)
RC: Could you speak up, please?
LK: I just … I don’t know. I’m sorry, what did you want to know?
RC: What can you tell me about Mr. Letourneau? How did he seem?
LK: Seem?
RC: Yes. Was he awake?
LK: He was awake.
RC: What else did you observe?
LK: He was disoriented. Agitated. His color was strange.
RC: How do you mean?
(Pause.)
LK: I have to go to the bathroom.
RC: Let’s just get through some questions first. I know you’re tired. I promise I’ll get you out of here as quickly as I can.