“I’m not making this up.”
“I have to reiterate: there is no evidence that your sister’s death was criminal in nature.”
“Are you serious? Everything about her death says it is.” My hands are shaking as I grip the edge of the table.
Simmons stands. “Thank you for coming by. We’ll be sure to keep you informed of our progress.”
“Wait.” I consider telling her about Lila so she’ll understand just how dangerous Greystone can be, but a knot is blocking my throat. Telling her about Lila implicates me too. What would she think then? Would she think it was my fault?Was it my fault?
I draw in a breath.We were young. We were scared.That was the truth, wasn’t it?
Or.
You were guilty,a voice in my head says.Guilty,it says, and I shudder, slouching back in my chair. The adrenaline coursing through me evaporates, and now I’m cold, so cold in this suffocating room.
“Please.” My voice is strange.
Simmons stares at me blankly. After a painfully long silence, she sighs. “Mr. DuPont has a solid alibi.”
“You spoke with him?”
“We spoke with anyone she may have interacted with in the weeks leading up to her death. We’ve narrowed the time of death to Friday night between eightp.m.and fivea.m.Mr. DuPont was on campus giving a speech in front of hundreds of people. Home with his fiancée the remainder of the night.”
“I thought it was hard to determine the exact time of death in a drowning?”
“It’s an estimate. But more importantly, Mr. DuPont’s home security system shows he arrived home around the same time your sister’sphone pinged a tower in Manhattan. Around seven-thirtyp.m. Like I said, home with his fiancée the rest of the evening.”
“If Naomi was in Manhattan that night, then how did she end up at the lake?”
“I can’t answer that, yet, but what I can tell you is Mr. DuPont was nowhere near your sister.”
Part Two
Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind,
In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined
On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson,The Lotos-Eaters
Chapter Nineteen
Maya
November 2011
Over the past month, thelast dregs of fall finally gave way to winter. Temperatures fell, Lake Carnegie froze over, and winter came with a vengeance. Snow poured over campus, cloaking trees, weighing on rooftops, and settling into the cracks between stones, while the pavement became so slick with black ice that one false step could send you plunging toward the earth.
To escape the storm, I decided to find refuge in Firestone Library.
I wandered to C Floor, under the Skylight Atrium, where rays of light sifted through the high glass ceiling, illuminating dust in the air. Once settled, I opened my laptop and stared at the blank page. The header of my paper filled the screen—“Female Hysteria in the 19th Century—Nervous Disorder or Disordered Society?” I’d never had trouble focusing before. Why was it all of a sudden so hard to write one paper? The cursor blinked back at me. Sighing, I leaned back and looked across the room.
I’d chosen this spot because A, it was one of the few places where I could have my back against a wall, and B, it had the perfect view of Lila Jones. She was a member of Sterling Club whom I’d briefly met at bicker but was totally in awe of. She had this cool confidence about her, a series of tiny gold hoops crawling up her ear, ripped jeans and Doc Martens. Her bright red hair was the color of embers and draped over her face as she scanned the textbook in front of her. I suppose I felt a sort of closeness to her—being that we were both outsiders. She didn’t have many friends and spent most of her time in the library too.
When I went to Professor DuPont’s office hours, she had been there when I arrived. She’d tilted her head back, exposing her neck, and laughed in the most sensual yet unaffected way. As I stood outside, looking in through the blinds, his eyes were glued to her face, infatuated.
I watched Lila adjust her headphones now and wondered what music she was listening to. Maybe the Smiths, or something darker, like Nick Cave. I was taking a sip of my coffee, now lukewarm, when my phone buzzed.
