Marshall cocked his head as he analyzed the board in front of him and contemplated his next move.
“Marshall, what other secrets?”
“You figured out that Daniel and Ellie were the only friends who stayed in contact with Grace. You have to know by now that they are both in love with her. It must be obvious to you.”
Sidney blinked a few times. Leaned forward slightly. “In love with Grace?”
“It’s sad. Even today, all these years later.” Marshall moved his rook.
“You mean theyloveGrace. They’re notinlove with Grace.”
“No,” Marshall said, finally looking into Sidney’s eyes. “I said it right the first time.”
Sidney waited without speaking as Marshall leaned over, opened the desk drawer, and pulled out a cloth bag. It contained Grace’s love lock, which Marshall held up.
“You know she kept this the whole time my sister was gone?”
“Who?”
“Ellie. She kept it hidden away after Grace went to prison. It was important that no one found it after Sugar Beach. She probably pretended it belonged to her, and tried to ignore what it really represented. I was surprised she actually handed it over when Grace was allowed a few personal items in jail. Theyboth hate this love lock. Daniel and Ellie. They each wanted their own name under Grace’s.”
He dropped it back into the long cloth bag and handed it to Sidney, who slipped the large, antique love lock into her hand with a strange feeling of foreboding in her gut.
“Ellie or Daniel hated the names on that lock.”
Sidney looked down at the lock. It was as big as her palm. Heavy and old, a two-pronged key extended from the locking mechanism at the bottom. Etched onto the surface were two names:Grace & Julian.
It was just as Sidney remembered from the first time Grace showed her the lock at the Bordelais Correctional Facility.
“They hate names?” Sidney said. “Grace and Julian?”
“Julian and Henry,” Marshall said, analyzing the chessboard again.
“Henry’s name is not on this lock, Marshall.”
“Not anymore. It used to be. Underneath.”
Sidney looked more closely at the lock and noticed the scuffs in the surface where Julian’s name was located. Sidney imagined Henry’s name scrawled there originally, scratched over and erased some years later to produce a clean slate for Julian’s title. The weight in her stomach grew heavier.
“That lock has been a dangerous thing over the years,” Marshall said. “It’s caused a lot of pain. But I’m done keeping secrets.” He shook his head. “My loyalty is waning. I know everyone underestimates me. Assumes I’m unaware of the things that go on around me. But I’m not going to let the same thing happen again. I warned Grace that I wouldn’t.”
“Warned Grace about what?” Sidney asked.
“You’ve obviously looked into Henry Anderson’s case. I know what you must be thinking. Grace will never tell you the truth. She’s too loyal. I don’t want my sister tried again for a crime she didn’t commit.”
Marshall tapped the chessboard with his finger.
“Your move,” he said. “Make it a good one.”
Sidney looked around the den, and then glanced toward the kitchen one last time. She heard the coffeepot gurgling and Grace clinking the mugs as she pulled them from the cabinet. Sidney slipped the love lock back into the mesh satchel. As she did, she felt its smooth, rounded edge. Her mind flashed to the side-by-side photos of Julian and Henry’s skull fractures that Livia Cutty had shown her the day before. The vein in Sidney’s neck pulsed more rapidly. Her breathing became shallow and inefficient.
She mindlessly moved chess pieces for another sixteen minutes until Marshall announced checkmate.
CHAPTER 53
Friday, July 21, 2017
ON FRIDAY MORNING, SIDNEY STOOD OUTSIDE THE NEW YORK OFFICEof the Chief Medical Examiner. She paced for a few minutes while she waited. The sun was just up, casting the city in a lavender radiance as it peeked over Brooklyn and slid its reflection along the East River. Derrick leaned against the building’s façade, his back against the brick and his Ikegami camera on the sidewalk next to him.
