“You obviously don’t know Charlotte very well,” Ellen said under her breath.
Kelly defiantly lifted her chin. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to hurt Charlotte. Just like I never meant to physically harm Lincoln, much less kill him. It wasn’t premeditated.”
Ellen held up one hand in a placating gesture. “I’m sure it wasn’t. Which does make a big difference, you know.”
“I know. I’m not stupid.” Kelly’s aim wavered.
“Of course not. And if Lincoln was your brother, who basically stole your inheritance …”
“He wasn’t my brother!” Kelly’s voice rocketed up another octave on the last word.
“Okay, then who was he?” Ellen’s voice remained perfectly calm, as if she was simply passing the time of day with a new acquaintance.
“An impostor,” Kelly spat out. “A liar and a scoundrel.”
Emboldened, I decided to speak up. “Lincoln wasn’t the brother who went missing when you were a child?”
“No. Other people thought he was, but I knew better.” Kelly used her free hand to wipe a bit of spittle from the corner of her mouth. “My brother’s name was David. He disappeared when I was five. People told me I couldn’t remember him well enough to know that Lincoln was an impostor, but I did. I swear I did.”
“Of course,” Ellen said in a soothing tone. “You were family. You would know.”
“Exactly,” Kelly said.
The ferocity of her reply reminded me of her comments about the family in Tey’sBrat Farraraccepting the counterfeit nephew and brother, Brat, as one of their own. “Did Lincoln show up right after your parents’ deaths?”
“No, he was too clever for that. He waited six months before appearing at my grandparents’ house, claiming to be David.”
“And they believed him?” Ellen asked gently.
“Yes, the fools.” Kelly tapped one foot and rolled her shoulders. She appeared to be struggling to retain a hold on her violent emotions, which didn’t make me feel good about her wielding a gun. “Of course, they wanted to believe. They’d just lost their daughter and son-in-law. They desperately desired the miracle that Lincoln Delamont offered them.”
“That their missing grandson had returned? That’s understandable.” Ellen dropped my hand and took one step to the side.
“He was well informed.” Kelly’s blue eyes glazed over. “I guess he’d made a study of our family, planning the whole masquerade. I don’t know how he did it, but he knew details about my parents, about our past experiences and activities, that convinced my grandparents he was actually David.”
“But what did he say to explain his earlier disappearance?” Ellen asked.
“Oh, he had this whole story concocted. About how he’d run off when he was fifteen because he was feeling so pressured by my parents to succeed.” Kelly frowned. “I guess that was true. Some of David’s friends did confirm that he was experiencing those emotions when he left. But I assume Lincoln talked to them at some point to gather information.”
“What do you think happened to the real David?” I asked, hoping to keep Kelly talking long enough for the police to set up their operations outside.
“Dead,” she said, in a hollow voice. “I knew it, not long after he disappeared. There was just this void in my head, you know, when I tried to remember him.”
“Lincoln may have somehow known David was dead as well,” Ellen said thoughtfully.
“I’m sure he did.” A single tear slid down Kelly’s cheek.
“But why did he stay away so long?” I asked. When Kelly’s frown turned into a glower, I quickly added, “I mean, what was Lincoln’s contrived excuse for not returning to the family sooner?”
“Oh, he said he found a home with some family who were willing to take him in without too many questions. He claimed they believed his story about being abused, even though he wasn’t, and so they didn’t contact social services for fear he’d be returned to his terrible family.” Kelly snorted. “As if my parents would’ve ever laid a hand on either of us.”
“Lincoln concocted this story, and your grandparents swallowed it hook, line, and sinker?” Ellen asked.
“Yes. Like I said, they wanted to believe. And Lincoln knew enough background information and looked enough like our family to make it plausible. I wanted them to have his DNA tested, or something more official, but they were so dazzled by the idea that they had regained one of the three family members they’d lost that they refused. They said such testing wasn’t necessary. They accepted his lies and were more than happy to sign over my parents’ estate.”
“Cutting you out?” I asked.
“Yes, but they didn’t mean to hurt me. They honestly thought mybrotherwould take care of me.”
