Page 60 of Random in Death

“Anything and everything you tell us will help us find out why, find out who.”

“I wasn’t even with her.” Moses’s lips trembled, and Nikki reached for his hand. “I wasn’t even with her. I went to get ice. She said a wasp stung her, and when I looked, it was all red, so I went to get ice for it. And when I came back…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have your name.”

“I’m Moses, Moses Rowe.”

“Moses, it’s hard, but can you tell me exactly what was happening when Arlie said a wasp stung her?”

“We were watching the band.”

“Which band?”

“Sisters. Girl rock band.”

“They were on their third song,” Dawn added. “Every finalist gets three.”

“And she said a wasp stung her?”

“She said…” Moses trailed off, then continued. “I remember it was really loud, everybody’s into the music, and I heard her say something about being funny. No, she said, like, ‘You think it’s funny?’ And I asked what was funny. She said about the wasp, and how some guy, and pointed. But said he wasn’t there now.”

“She’s really scared of wasps,” Nikki told her. “Regular bees wig her, but wasps? Freak time.”

“It looked all red,” Moses continued. “And like it really hurt. I said I’d get ice, but she said wait until they finished the last song. No big. She seemed okay, and I didn’t go for the ice until the break between bands.”

“You didn’t see anyone near her?”

“It’s crowded, sure. Lots of people. We’re all watching the Sisters.”

“All right. Nikki, Dawn, can you tell me what happened when Moses went for ice?”

“She said about the wasp, and I said let me see. It didn’t look like a sting. I want to be a doctor. I volunteer at the hospitals where my dad works—he’s a nurse. It was too big for a stinger, I thought. I thought it looked like a needle stick. I’ve watched vids where they use or used needles instead of the pressure syringe, and it looked like that. Only bad, infected.”

“Arlie started to feel wrong,” Dawn added. “And she said something about a rabbit wearing clothes, and sat on the ground. She puked a little. I want to say I kind of froze, and it was Nikki who yelled for me to call for an ambulance. She had to tell me twice even, because I froze. And Arlie’s eyes looked all glassy and then I could see all the whites, and she started shaking.”

“Before, she said she couldn’t breathe.” Nikki took her own breath slowly. “And I tried to get her to look at me and breathe slow. But I heard about the girl at Club Rock It, and I was so scared.”

“You were scared,” Peabody put in, “but you did CPR. You were scared, but made sure Dawn called for help.”

“She told me to run and find somebody, get them to go on with a mic and say we needed a doctor. But by the time I did…”

“The doctor came. The MTs came,” Nikki murmured. “And the police, and nobody could help her.”

“You’re helping us now. The four of you came together tonight.”

“Yeah. My friend plays in Arrow,” Moses told her. “They’re finalists, slated to go on last.”

“What time did you get here?”

“Ah, we grabbed some pizza. We rode the subway downtown and grabbed some pizza. Then walked over. I guess, maybe like nine? Maybe a little before because we wanted a decent spot. It was already pretty jammed.”

“They don’t start until after the sun sets,” Dawn explained. “Then the winning band from last year does a short set to get everybody going. We were here for that.”

“Moses, how long have you and Arlie been dating?”

“Oh, um, like four months about.”

“Was she seeing anyone before that?”

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