Virgil: “Holy shit, she’s taken off her clothes. She did that when I first talked to her; she was flashing Brett and Jerry.”
—
Jerry: “You gonna let me touch?”
“Fuck no. That hasn’t changed,” Quill said. “Not yet anyway. I mean, Brett...” And now she sobbed.
More dishes, and, a moment later, Jerry said, “Good. Hot. What are the green things?”
“Spinach.”
“Cool.”
“Jerry, I need to ask you something...”
—
“Here we go,” Virgil said.
—
“You didn’t... I mean, don’t take this wrong, okay?... You didn’t have anything to do with... Dad?”
“What!”
“You know, that computer up there. I was thinking about it. It’s, like, a hot gaming computer...”
Long silence.
—
Then, “Hey, fuck you, Megan! You think I... What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. Those cops were over here this morning asking me if I knew what Dad was doing with the laptop, they said it was really, really superhot and they wondered what he was running on it. After they left, I thought about it, and I wondered... I mean, what if it wasn’t what he was running, what if it was just the laptop itself?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes, Megan. I wouldn’t hurt... Hey! If you think I killed your old man...” Krause was shouting.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Do you think I killed Brett? Is that what you’re thinking?”
“No, no, I didn’t think that, Jerry. Brett did it to himself. But I was wondering, you know? I remember when Dad bought that laptop, and you couldn’t believe it, looking at the box and everything. Listen, forget I said it.”
“I can’t forget it. How can I? Fuck you and your pussy. And you can take this fuckin’ pizza and stick it up your ass. I’m outta here.”
“Jerry,” Quill wailed. “C’mon, I didn’t mean...”
The door slammed, and then they heard Krause banging down the stairs and out. Virgil stepped to the window and saw him stomping down the sidewalk, shoulders hunched. He looked back once, his face either angry or maybe frightened, then turned away and disappeared under the canopies of street-side maples.
Barry said, “Well, that didn’t work out as well as it might have.”
—
“Let’s go talk with Megan,” Trane said.
“Krause could come back,” Virgil said. “I still think he’s the guy and I don’t want him to know this was a setup. Let me make sure we’re still tracking the phone so that if he turns back, we’ll get a call.”
Virgil made the call to the BCA tech and then they went down to Quill’s apartment and found her changed into jeans and a light pullover blouse. When she let them in, she walked away to the table, picked up a slice, and said, “Now I know for sure.”
