Page 73 of City of the Dead

“How so?”

“My feeling is that he started to get too attached to her and when that happens things can get weird, right?”

“They can,” said Milo.

“Hero worship,” said Mona Kramm. “I’ve never seen it go anywhere good.”

I said, “Caspian worshipped Cordi.”

“It didn’t start out that way but it came to that. Poor Caspian. He was so sweet. Gentle, quiet, considerate. Plus neat and clean and try finding all that in one person. When he answered my Craigslist ad I had a terrific first impression and it only improved. He was thebestroommate you could ask for. Now he’s…this is unreal.”

“How long have the two of you lived together?”

“Two years,” said Mona Kramm. “Cordi.” She shook her head.

I said, “Caspian got attached to Cordi in a way that made you worry.”

“I never worried about something like this, no, no, nothing likethis.Jesus…I just thought she was…I don’t want to disrespect a dead person.”

Milo said, “Anything you can tell us is helpful.”

She freed her legs, stretched, returned to the yoga fold. “It started off as work for Caspian. Doing her hair and makeup. This was like…a year and a half ago. But then he started talking about her more and more and I could tell he was getting…hooked.”

“What did he say about her?”

“What a brilliant shrink she was. How deep her insights were, she had a talent for tuning in to people’s souls. He’s like you have to watch her videos, Mona, she really gets it. I’m not into that stuff but just to be nice I watched a couple.”

She stuck out her tongue.

I said, “Not impressed.”

“I thought she was slick and superficial. But I told Caspian they were great. Why make him feel bad? I didn’t have the heart to say what Ireallythought.”

I said, “Which was…”

“Basically, she was either doling out common sense—be attracted to people who are good for you—or telling people what they wanted to hear. Kind of like what those fake psychics do? When I saw the videos, I was still in therapy with a real therapist and she looked Cordi up, watched, and agreed. Later she told me she’d found out Cordi had been busted for impersonating a shrink. So I’m thinking whoa. I guess I should’ve told Caspian but I didn’t imagine it would—something would happen to him. He was so needy, I figured he’d found a friend and that was better than nothing.”

I said, “Caspian didn’t have friends.”

“Just me, for what that was worth,” said Mona Kramm. “And we never really did anything together, we were just compatible roomies.”

“What was their friendship like?”

“I don’t know,” said Mona Kramm. “I never actually saw them together so maybe I’m being too judgmental. But I can tell you this: In the beginning she paid Caspian his full fee but then he began styling her at a discount. He claimed it was his idea, but who knows? Either way, Caspian wasn’t exactly rich, even with his other gigs. She had to know that. To me that sounds exploitative.”

“Caspian struggled financially.”

She waved a hand. “I guess it’s pretty obvious looking at this dump that neither of us is doing the privilege thing. I hoped it would work out for Caspian eventually. He was super-talented and not temperamental, had been in town for five years but only working for himself for the last two. It takes time to build up but business did seem to be growing. Still, he was a long way from having any savings and he sure could’ve used every penny he got from her.”

Milo said, “Do you know where he was originally from?”

“Ohio,” she said. “Columbus. He didn’t talk much about that. I got the feeling his childhood wasn’t great.”

“So he came here.”

“And did the struggling thing.” Mona Kramm’s lips slitted and her eyes flashed. First time I noticed their color. Olive green with rusty rims. The pupils, dilated by cold light.

“This is a vicious town,” she said. “I’m not bitching. I could’ve chosen to be a social worker or a respiratory therapist like my sisters. You make choices, you live with them. But Cordi had to know Caspian needed every dollar he earned so why would she allow him to work cheap even if he offered?”

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