Page 94 of The Vanishing Place
“Well,” said Morrow, “chemical and pH testing found that the food leftovers on the table, as well as a half-drunk cup of tea, werecontaminated. Likely both the vegetables and the drink were boiled in water that contained the tutu shoots.” She tapped a finger on the photo. “Meaning that, as the water heated, the poisonous tutin was extracted from the shoots and contaminated the entire meal.”
Lewis touched Effie’s knee.
“And the postmortem?” asked Effie.
“It confirms poisoning.” Morrow paused. “I’m sorry.”
Effie rubbed a hand over her mouth, her throat and tongue dry.
“This,” said Morrow, moving to the other piece of paper, “we found clutched in Four’s fingers.”
Effie focused on the creased rectangle of yellow paper, the corners worn by sweat and the crush of her brother’s grip. Two words were written on it, the writing smudged and hectic.
I’m sorry.
Effie frowned, then looked up. “You’re thinking suicide?”
“Yes.”
“But the cross on his chest,” said Lewis. “Surely he didn’t do that to himself?”
“It’s possible,” Morrow replied. “But no, we don’t think so.”
“The girl did it,” said Wilson.
“What?” Effie glared at him. “Why on earth would—”
“Anger,” he continued. “Hatred.”
Morrow silenced her colleague with a glance.
“We found the knife,” she said, after clearing her throat. “It had been thrown into the bush, not too far away.”
“Prints?” asked Effie.
“Obviously anything concrete will take another few days, maybe a week. And, given the people involved, I doubt there will be any matches. But they were able to tell us one thing. The only prints that were lifted from the knife were small, likely belonging to a child.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
“We believe that Four killed himself, most probably out of guilt.” Morrow paused. “A growing sense of remorse for what he’d done to the girl.”
Effie glanced from one detective to the other. “But Anya said Four never hurt her.”
Morrow’s colleague scoffed. “He had her chained up. The girl admitted that.”
Effie looked at Morrow.
“It’s not unusual,” said Morrow, “for a child to develop positive feelings toward their captor over time, as a coping mechanism.”
Lewis frowned. “You think Anya has Stockholm syndrome?”
Effie shook her head, but she couldn’t maneuver her thoughts into words.
“Anya has displayed lots of the signs,” said Morrow, looking at Lewis as she spoke. “She was desperate to get back to him, to be back in the familiar world that he’d created for her. And she’s consistently exhibited negative feelings toward authority figures. Plus, the girl’s demeanor—she’s jittery and unpredictable. She’s shown that she’s unwilling to trust or to open up.”
“But the cross.” Lewis frowned. “You said that—”
“Anger, maybe.” Morrow nodded. “But it could also be that the symbol was a sign of love. That the girl was blessing him.”
