Page 59 of The Hand that Frays

Neo and I remain silent as she looks over the documents laid out with Carl’s severed fingers over them, and with each new revelation, Anne’s breathing shifts.

“He…” she stammers.

“He was the one poisoning your children. He was also the one fucking your daughter.”

A cracked sob breaks out of Anne’s throat as she steps back from her dead husband, pressing herself against the wall behind where his body is slumped in his desk chair.

“I thought…”

It’s well past time that Neo and I leave her house, especially since we don’t know if Anne called the police before we returned downstairs.

“Who did you think was behind your children’s illnesses?” Neo asks.

He’s too transfixed with this case for his own good.

Anne shakes her head as if confused by the question, but her eyes flick toward her daughter for a fraction of a moment too long.

It’s telling.

Everyone has tells if you only tune into their face and pay close attention to each movement.

Every twitch, every jerking muscle, is the body trying to lay their sins bare.

“You thought Ada was making everyone sick, didn’t you?” I ask her.

She nods. “Because she stopped getting sick right before the cops got involved.”

“It’s why you kept quiet. Even if she was the one who did it, you took the time for her. You thought you were protecting her,” Neo says, and there’s admiration in his voice.

It’s misplaced, but I can see how he’d find a mother taking the blame for their child admirable.

“If shewasthe one who was poisoning them, yourdoing time left her out here free to do whatever she wanted.”

“Carl assured me that he had it under control,” she whispers.

I laugh, and Neo turns to give me a slight shake of his head.

“He had it under control, alright,” I sneer.

“What does she mean? What is she saying?” Anne asks, directing her question towards Neo.

Neo sighs, turning back to Anne. “She means that Ada stopped getting sick because she walked in on Carl dumping cleaner into the children’s food. For her silence, Carl made a deal with Ada. One of a very sexual nature.”

Anne gasps, covering her mouth as a strangled gag sound makes its way free.

“I knew that she liked to watch… I just thought it was a perversion. That the place we checked her into would help, but then the cops were involved, and I knew it would look bad, her being in there…”

“It would, especially if she decided to talk,” I add.

“Why have you come all this way to do this?” Anne asks.

I’m curious to see how Neo answers, so I cross my arms over my chest and clamp my lips shut to listen.

“Because I was like your children. I was a sick game to my mother until I gained the nerve to fight back. I’ve spent my life avenging those who couldn’t avenge themselves. I’ve put my bloodthirst and delusions to work for those not strong enough to do the same. It makes me a killer, but it also makes me an avenging angel to some.”

My heart thumps away to hear him admit his motivations so plainly.

“What do I do now?” Anne asks, wiping her tears away as reality crashes over her.

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