experience?â
Arthur had told me the name of the program. Was it Cyber-Guru? No: âTechnoShaman.â
That got a reaction out of Louis. âHow did you find out about that? Did Billy tell you?â
âKind of.â I felt sleazy, to say the least. âI came up here to interview him. I was told I could find him through you guys.â
Louisâs eyes narrowed. âWhy didnât you ask for him when you came in?â
Because Iâm not that quick-witted, alas. âActually, if youâd had any kind of job available, Iâd have jumped at it.â
âFrankly, Ms. Young,â Galen turned, standing very straight now, âI donât believe you came here to talk to Billy. Who sent you?â
I could see Iâd walked into some sort of mine field. âNo one. Iâm freelancing. And I was told about this, um, being a power spot, thatâs all. I thought I could pay for the trip here with an article.â
Louis shook his head. âIf youâd like to be contacted by our attorneys, fine. Lie to us some more.â
âThis is really bullshit.â Galen nodded without pause, noddingand nodding. âDamn you people! Who sent you?â
You people? Who could he mean?
âIâm not with anybody. If I canât get work in the field, I thought Iâd freelance. Billy Seawuit was supposed to be here teaching about power spots, so I came. I know this area got cast up out of the ocean millennia ago, and that . . . â I ran out of steam. Itâs exhaustingâand creepyâto lie so elaborately.
Louis said to Galen, âThat does sound like Seawuit.â
âCan we see some ID, please?â Galen remained unconvinced I wasnât one of âyou people.â
âIâm sorry I bothered you. Obviously Iâve done something gauche here, which I didnât mean to do. Could you just let me know where to find Billy Seawuit?â I was desperately uncomfortable, more than ready to leave. Earlier, Iâd referred to Seawuit in the past tense; had they noticed?
They all watched me. In silence.
Iâd come for information. I had to try. âHeâs supposed to be staying with someone here?â
âIs this a sincere question?â Louis asked.
Had they seen me reading the morning paper out in front of the drugstore earlier?
I felt thoroughly ashamed of myself, embarrassed by my insensitive gambits. The need to confide my perfidy almost overwhelmed me.
But I said, âYes.â
Galen sat down with a sigh. âHe was killed sometime Saturday. He was found on Sunday.â
âWhat happened to him?â Theyâd expect me to ask. âHow did he die?â
âHe was stabbed.â
âStabbed?â This time my surprise was genuine. Weâd heard heâd been shot. I assumed Iâd thrown away the murder weapon. Iâd fretted incessantly over whether Iâd wiped away every trace of fingerprints. âStabbed? With a knife?â
Galen nodded. âPresumably. They didnât actually find the weapon. But he was . . . â He stared into the middle distance.
âHe was slashed,â Louis said quietly. âPractically disemboweled.â
I guess the last two days got the better of me. I started crying. Ihadnât even met Billy Seawuit, but his manner of death suddenly became the last straw.
I got up and walked out.
I hadnât made it half a block down the street before Toni Nelson ran up behind me, taking my arm and stopping me in my tracks.
I was overloaded, didnât want to deal with her now. I wanted to go back to Edwardâs cabin, take a hot shower, and pretend Iâd had a lobotomy.
Toni said, âYour nose looks better. I didnât mean to hit you.â
I was still carrying the bloody paper towels. I stared down at them. Iâd forgotten about my nose.
She linked her armânow in a fisherman sweaterâthrough mine. She