Page 112 of Chaos

Like in a freezer.

I go over it again and again.

Renata said that Nando disappeared around the same time they left Thornewood, after the power went out.

But Tani would have turned the power on as soon as they left, and kept it that way, running the freezer and anything else she wanted.

Right up until we showed up.

So she turned off the power again, and dumped the corpse, and hoped it would scare us off or at least get us to deal with the body.

That all makes sense, except for one thing.

Why did Mitsy saygross?

And then I remember something else.

She told Yorke when she cornered him in our suite and tried to massage his shoulder that Nando was in love with her.

But was he?

Or is that what she wants people to think?

I keep thinking about it as we put Ben’s special slice of French toast on a plate with a strip of bacon, and dust it withpowdered poison and sugar, and a sous chef takes it off for delivery, as we clean up.

And I keep thinking about it as I meet Auden for lunch in the Tastemaker.

I drop an uneaten strip of my bacon onto his plate. “I need to go find Colleen.”

He grabs it immediately, his eyes going wide like Gollum. “Crispy.” He bolts to his feet like he’s afraid I’ll change my mind, and dances away, taking Beast with him.

“Is he gone?” Shasta asks, almost immediately. “Like out of earshot?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me what’s going on with you?”

“I think …” I double check that no one is listening. “I think Mitsy killed Nando, but I have zero evidence.”

“Who needs evidence? It’s Mitsy.” She blasts to her feet.

“I really love you, Shasta. You’re always up for anything.”

Her mouth tightens. “You include me. Not everyone does. They think being blind means I’m useless.”

I grab her hand. “You’re not useless. Let’s go find Colleen.”

AFEW MINUTES LATER, we collide with the closed door of Colleen’s office.

Weknock, knock, knock,but no one comes.

“Maybe no one is here?” Shasta presses her ear to the door.

Something’s off.

I take in our surroundings, tapping into the part of myself I discovered in that cellar, a primitive part that suddenly sees threats and weapons everywhere.

Pearl is knitting away in her chair by the fire. I’m sure if I were closer, I’d hear the needles clacking, the fire cracking.

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