That was the last document William had open.
“Oh God,” said Sam. “Oh no.”
William was writing Cyndi’s book.
But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe Sam was misinterpreting. She went into the subfolders:Research—more info than Sam had ever wanted to know about the Salem witch trials;Drafts—more pages, including from long-dead Margaret Scott’s POV; andEnd Matter.
What was end matter? Nonfiction had end matter: bibliographies, indices, author’s notes. Fiction did not. Sam opened this.
There was page after page after yellow-lined page of a detailed outline titled “The Clowder.” Penned in large neat female cursive. Scanned into William’s computer.
Sam touched the fountain pen in her own braid. She remembered Cyndi commenting on it at the café, saying,I write by hand, too, on legal pads. Rookie move, I know, but after all those years of law school, I guess I never broke the habit.
Sam dragged over William’s document and compared it side by side with the outline. Aside from his transposing the language from Cyndi’s simple storyboard descriptions to William’s filigreed vocabulary, it was identical. Plot twist per plot twist. Every point of character development tracked. All William was doing was fleshing out Cyndi’s story in his own prose.
Sam left the outline and went to the folder inEnd MatterlabeledKitten. A survey from William’s Darlings group, also filled out inCyndi’s handwriting. That must have been how he’d found her. Correspondence between William and Cyndi, arranging to meet at the Blue Trees—“Oh yeah, I remember that,” said Sam through clenched teeth. She read through it all:Please, allow me to walk with you. But I do have one condition: You must call me William.“She pursued him hotly, my ass,” Sam muttered.
And finally, an obituary.
Cyndi Pietorowski, 42, of Salem, MA, died suddenly at the Hawthorne Hotel on October 30. Pietorowski, a Salem native and descendant of accused witch Margaret Scott, was an attorney at Gomez and Yountz and attended Suffolk Law School and Salem State University. Pietorowski’s tenant says she had taken a hiatus from legal work to focus on creative pursuits. Pietorowski had no immediate family, but her 19 cats now reside at the Popoki Sanctuary in Hawai’i. Her death has been ruled a suicide.
The headshot of Cyndi, smiling sweetly in an incongruous power suit against a powder-blue corporate background, was a gut punch. It must have been her law firm photo. Sam kissed her fingers and touched it to the screen, then closed out ofKitten, End Matter, andThe Clowder.
She went to the main folder on the desktop, the one labeledBooks.
The Girl on the Mountain
You Never Said Goodbye
The Space Between Worlds
Medusa
All the Lambent Souls
Sam openedLambent Souls, William’s most recent bestseller, and went straight toEnd Matter.
The original manuscript, which unlike Cyndi’s was a Word document, had been written by a woman William called Faerie and whosename was Marta O’Leary, according to her title page, dated three years ago. There was a note from Marta to William attached:Thank you so much for reading this! I can’t believe you’d take the time to help somebody like me. I’m honored!
“No,” Sam moaned.
Marta O’Leary, 37, died suddenly on January 7 in her home, of an apparent overdose. O’Leary, an adjunct English instructor at Keystone Community College, had been taking medication for severe migraines and suffered from depression, according to a colleague. O’Leary leaves no family but is survived by cousins in County Cork, Ireland...
Medusa’s original author was Eleni Panatagopulous, aka Goddess. She had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Space Between Worldshad been written by a woman named Kaelynn Christianson, Stargazer, who had fallen off a roof. Presumably while stargazing... perhaps at Orion the mighty hunter?
“No no no,” Sam said.
The author ofYou Never Said Goodbyewas Becky Bowman—William’s fiancée from grad school. His original Darling. She sure was. She had also been his Mouseketeer, and she had overdosed.
And finally, inEnd MatterforThe Girl on the Mountain, there was a folder simply markedPen.
William’s sister.
“Oh please God no,” said Sam, even as she opened this. William’s sister. His own sister!
Penelope Corwyn, 16, died Tuesday at Mount Washington Hospital following fatal exposure to the January 14 blizzard. According to her father, renowned neurosurgeon Archibald Corwyn, Penelope had left the house after a quarrel with her brother William and been caught in the storm. “By the time I found her, it was too late to resuscitate her,” the senior Mr. Corwyn said. Penelope is survived by her father and heryounger brother. Contributions may be made to the New Hampshire Humane Society.
