Page 127 of Delusion in Death

“Go ahead! I welcome it.”

“And once we do that, you’re not just cooked, you’re served up with tasty side dishes. How did you know about Red Horse?”

Like a child, he turned his head away, stared at the wall.

“Because it’s interesting you’d bring up Red Horse in connection with the killings as Menzini headed one of the sects during the Urbans. Menzini was a chemist, more self-taught than educated. And completely bat-shit. He created a substance that caused violent delusions, extreme paranoia. The same substance you used at On the Rocks and Café West.”

She let it hang, said nothing. Silence ticked, ticked, ticked as she kept her gaze steady and cool on his averted face.

He shifted in his chair. “I’m not a damn chemist. I can’t make something like that even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”

“How did you know about Red Horse?”

“My grandfather served during the Urbans. I’ve heard stories.”

“He died before you were born.”

“They’ve been passed down. And I’ve familiarized myself with some of the battles he was in. He fought this Red Horse cult. When you mentioned religious fanatics, that came to mind. It’s that simple.”

“But Menzini was never mentioned in this family history?”

“I’ve never heard the name before today.”

“That’s pretty strange, Lew, seeing as he’s your mother’s biological father.”

“That’s utter nonsense. If you had any brain at all, you’d have checked her birth records.”

“Oh, I had enough brain to do that. With enough left over to ask her face-to-face.”

Now his head came around, fast. “What did you say?”

“It’s really more what she said. I get you didn’t want us to speak to her or your father, but, hey, I’m just bullheaded that way.”

“Obviously you frightened and intimidated her. She’s not a strong woman. She’s frail, emotionally. You coerced her.”

“That would be your method. Here’s the thing—the break I’m going to give you right here and now. You can keep denying knowledge, figuring when the truth comes out, you stick to being unaware. Nobody ever told you.”

She waited a beat, gave him time to calculate. “That’s one way. Or you can admit you found out, discovered the documents your mother told me about. The shock of that sent you into a tailspin. Why, your family lied to you, and your grandfather, rather than being a decorated war hero, turns out to be some homicidal lunatic mass murderer and child abductor. A religious looney on top of it. He might get mentally impaired out of that line, right, Dr. Mira?”

“The shock alone…” Shaking her head, Mira trailed off.

“It could work to your advantage.”

“I want to speak with my mother.”

“Not going to happen, Lew.”

“A mother testifying against a son,” Teasdale said quietly. “The weight of that testimony will be great.”

His jaw set. Eve imagined she heard his teeth grinding.

“She’ll never agree to it.”

“She won’t have a choice. And when we bring Menzini in—”

“He’s dead!”

Eve angled her head. “What makes you think that?”

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