Tean didn’t answer, but his mouth tightened.
“What do you want me to say?”Jem asked.“Am I supposed to say, ‘Hey, there’s the proof she’s a bad mom, nothing has changed, gee, I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one she fucked over’?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Whatareyou saying?”
“I’m telling you it upset me.And I’m asking what you felt.”
“I didn’t feel anything!”
His volume got away from him at the end.A big-haired woman glanced over at them.Their waiter paused.At the buffet, a middle-aged man stared, bacon slipping out from between forgotten tongs.
Jem slumped back in his seat.Folded his napkin.
“I’m sorry,” Tean said.
“No.”But that came out sharp.Trying for gentler, Jem said, “I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have raised my voice.I just… I don’t even know why we’re talking about this.”
At the edge of Jem’s vision, Tean nodded.
“Anyway,” Jem said, “we’ve kind of got more important stuff to worry about, you know?”
Tean didn’t say anything.Didn’t nod.When Jem finally faced him, Tean was still watching him, eyes hidden behind the reflected firelight.
“Somebody hit him on the back of the head,” Jem said.“Hard enough to kill him.What does that mean?Someone strong?”
Flatware clinked.Someone laughed.A cork popped, and a woman cheered.
“Not necessarily.”Tean’s voice was neutral.“If the murder weapon was Gerald’s cane, then the killer wouldn’t necessarily have to be exceptionally strong.The right angle of impact, the right acceleration—almost anyone could have done it.”
“So, it could have been any of them?”Jem asked.“The women too, not just the men?”
“In terms of the cause of death?Yes.”
Jem took a drink of coffee.It was starting to get cold.“You know what I was thinking when Mckell was talking to us?”
Tean nodded.“This is a group of people who have a lot of secrets.”
“See, I knew we were soulmates.”
Tean’s smile was small.But it was there.
“You couldn’t ask for a better group of suspects,” Jem said.“They’re all up here trying not to be who they are.They’ve all got something to hide.”
“We don’t actually know that, though,” Tean said.“We’re assuming that because they’re trying to—to change who they are, for lack of a better way of saying it, that they’re also trying to hide it.But those things aren’t necessarily true.There’s a subpopulation of LGBTQ people who identify as Mormon and who are outspoken about being gay or trans, but who still attend services, attempting—to whatever extent possible—to continue to be part of the church.”
Jem grunted.“The other problem is even if theywerestill closeted or hiding, is that actually a secret worth killing for?”
“For some of them.Possibly.”
“Really?”
Tean’s mouth twisted.“Absolutely.Siblings who threaten to go no contact if they come out.Parents who threaten to disown them if they come out.Fathers who threaten to kill them if they come out.”
Jem put down his cooling coffee.He felt like he needed to wipe his hands.“Shit.That’s messed up.”He looked more closely at Tean’s face.“Is that what your parents did to you?”
“No,” Tean said.And the next sentence, he said like he was closing a book.“I think I told you once: they decided to love me.”
