Page 98 of The Lie Maker

“Hello?”

“Mr.Gartner?”

“Yes?”

“This is Lana Wilshire from the Boston Star calling. How are you doing this evening?”

“What’s this about?”

“I wonder if you might have a moment to help me with a story I’m working on.”

“How did you get this number?”

The man sounded very alarmed that Lana had found him.

“I called your home first and they helped me get in touch with you. I understand you’re not in Chicago right now?”

Kyle said nothing.

“Mr.Gartner? Are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“Are you on a business trip?”

“What’s this about?” he asked again.

“Mr.Gartner, I’m doing a story on some of the people who have succumbed to the virus over the last couple of years, and—”

“We’re fine,” he snapped. “I had a second cousin who died, but no immediate family. And my wife’s aunt, she caught it but she came through okay. And we have followed all the necessary protocols in our businesses. The rate of infection in our workplaces was less than that in the general population, so I don’t know why you would be—”

“As I was saying, we’ve been looking at a few of the more well-known people who died in the Boston area, and that list included some individuals who won’t likely be missed. One of them was Galen Frohm.”

Silence at the other end.

“I would imagine that’s a name you haven’t forgotten,” Lana said.

“No. It’s not.” A pause. “What do you want, exactly?”

“I was wondering whether Frohm’s passing, however it came about, offered any final sense of justice? I would imagine that losing your father so tragically is something one never really gets over.”

“That son of a bitch,” Kyle said. “God, I hope he suffered.”

“I get the sense it took a toll on your sister.” Lana felt herself venturing out onto thin ice.

“How could you... how could you know about Valerie?”

“When I was researching Frohm online, it led me to your father, and that search led to your sister. I’m sorry for your loss. It was relatively recent, I gather.”

“Who did you say you were again?” he asked. Lana told him. He went quiet for a moment, and then said, “Frohm could die a hundred deaths and it still wouldn’t be justice.”

“Because?”

“The man who killed our father was allowed to walk away, to live his life. He never paid for what he did.”

“Michael Donohue.”

“Yes. If you’ve done your research, you know who he is.”

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