Free Phi Beta Murder by C.S. Challinor

this walk.”
    “Dinna be like that. I’ll be gone tomorrow. Look at that sliver of moon. It’s so balmy out, with just enough of a breeze.” She shook back her hair, which had dried to its natural waviness.
    Rex strode off down the beach. Moira made no attempt to keep up with him. She strolled along dreamily, from time to time dipping her bare feet in the rushing waves that left a lace of foam on the shore. When he could only make out the pale shade of her robe in the darkness, he stopped and waited for her to catch up, wondering whether they would eventually end up in Daytona if they walked far enough south. At night, the sand gave an impression of infinity, rolling out toward an ever-receding horizon as he continued to walk almost hypnotically.
    “You win,” Moira called after him.
    “I didna mean for it to be a race. I’m just preoccupied.”
    “I can see that. Let’s get back. Can you remember where the motel is? It’s awfully dark.”
    Two miles down the beach, Rex recognized the awning at the entrance to the boardwalk. They regained the room and Rex went to brush his teeth.
    “I have Tylenol PM if you need help getting to sleep,” he said when he came out of the bathroom. He set the alarm for 5:45 a.m.
    “Where is it?” Moira asked.
    “In the medicine cabinet.”
    They were the soft gel kind, and Rex hoped it would take effect quickly. He took advantage of her absence in the bathroom to leave a brief message for his mother.
    “I took two,” Moira told him, slipping into the other bed in her robe.
    Rex stripped to his boxers and turned off the light. He wished Moira goodnight and lay listening to her breathing, at the same time calculating what time it would be in England. Once he was sure Moira was asleep, he would slip out of the room and call Helen, even if it was just to leave a message. As he was composing the words in his head, he drifted into sleep, awaking only when, hours later, an insistent beep-beep-beep interrupted a dream where he was waving Moira off at a misty gray train station.
    Reaching out groggily, he turned off the alarm and looked over to see if she was awake. He discerned her dark form under the covers though he could hear no breathing. He rolled out of bed, wishing he could have slept longer.
    “Moira, time to rise and shine. Do you want to use the bathroom first? I’ll make coffee.”
    When no response came, he went over to the bed and shook her arm. He encountered something wet. He frantically called her name while he fumbled for the light switch. Blinking in the sudden glare, he saw pools of blood either side of her body where she had cut her wrists. Clammy fear engulfed him as he dialed 9-1-1 from the room phone.
    After stating his emergency, he ran to the bathroom for hand towels and bound her wrists as best he could. He tapped her cheeks. Her eyes flickered open and closed heavily.
    “Moira! Stay with me. The ambulance is on its way.” In a fold of the sheet he spotted his razor. “For God’s sake, why did you do it, Moira?” he cried.
    He grabbed her by the shoulders, and she moaned. He just had time to pull on some clothes before he heard a siren break the silence. He drew back the drapes. A sickly dawn was beginning to rise over the ocean.

Rex paced up and down the waiting room. Finally, he sat down on a plastic bucket chair and called Helen.
    “Hello?” she answered.
    “Helen, it’s me. Listen, I wanted to call you back last night.”
    “Did Moira spend the night with you?”
    “In my motel room, yes.”
    “I see.”
    “No, you don’t! I’m at the hospital. She tried to commit suicide. The medics think she’ll pull through. I’m waiting for the doctor.”
    “What happened?”
    “She slit her wrists.”
    “My God. Is she in love with you?”
    “I don’t think it’s that. She survived a bombing in Iraq. I think she’s become unhinged. She was behaving strangely last night.”
    “What did she mean when she said you didn’t love me?”
    “I