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“Yes, I remembered.”
“Ah, then you mean that you changed your mind? But it was too late because then the brakes failed?”
“That’s it exactly. I realized that I didn’t want to kill myself, but then it didn’t matter, since someone had evidently disabled the brakes.”
“Someone? Come on, Lily, that’s absurd.”
Savich said easily, “Unfortunately, the Explorer was compacted the very next day after the accident, so we can’t check it out to see if it is or isn’t absurd.”
“Perhaps, Lily,” Te
“I don’t think so, Te
A thick eyebrow went straight up. Savich had never before seen an eyebrow do a vertical lift like that. Te
“Oh, no,” Sherlock said, taking Lily’s clenched fist beneath the table. “This doctor didn’t plant anything, Te
“No, what I think is that Lily disremembers. I’m not sure if she’s doing it on purpose or if she’s simply confused and wants desperately for it to be this way. Don’t you see? She made up the brakes failing so she wouldn’t have to face up to what she did. I don’t think the brakes failed. I certainly don’t think anyone cut the lines. That’s beyond what is reasonable, and her saying that, claiming that that’s what happened, well, it really worries me. I don’t want Lily to even consider such a thing; it could make her lose ground again.
“Listen, I’m a psychiatrist-a real one-one who doesn’t use hocus-pocus on people to achieve some sort of preordained result. I am not pleased about this, Savich. I am Lily’s husband. I am responsible for her.”
Sherlock pointed her fork at him and said, her voice colder than a psychopath’s heart, “You haven’t been doing such a good job of it, have you?”
7
Te
Sherlock continued after a moment of chewing thoughtfully on a green bean. “I’ve also wondered at the timing. You remember, don’t you, Te
“Damn you, you both went behind my back, did something you knew I wouldn’t approve of! Lily is fine now. She no longer needs you here. I repeat, I am her husband. I will take care of her. As for your ridiculous veiled accusations, I won’t lower myself to answer them.”
“I think you should consider lowering yourself,” Sherlock said, and in that moment, Te
Savich waited a moment for him to regain some calm, then said, “All right, no lowering right now. Let’s just move along. Let’s suppose, Te
Te
Te
Savich said, “All right, Te
They hadn’t told Lily about Lynda Middleton Frasier. She froze where she sat, her mouth open, utter disbelief scored on her face, any final hope leached out with those words. When her husband had spoken so calmly, so reasonably, she had wondered if it was possible that her mind had altered what really happened, that her mind was so squirrelly that she simply couldn’t trust any thought, any reaction. But not any longer. Now she knew she hadn’t disremembered anything. Oh, God, had he killed his first wife? It was horrible, unbelievable. Lily was shaking from the inside out-she couldn’t help it.
She said slowly, holding her knife in a death grip, her knuckles white from the strain, “I remember that you told me you’d been married for a very short time, Te
“A long time ago?” Sherlock said, an eyebrow arched. “Sounds like maybe it was a decade or more, doesn’t it? Like he ran away with a girl when he was eighteen? Actually, Lily, Te
“It was a tragic event in my life,” Te
Sherlock leaned forward, her food forgotten. The gauntlet was thrown. This was fascinating. She smiled at Te
“No, that’s all ridiculous. None of it was at all relevant. Lily isn’t anything like Lynda. Lily was simply bowled over by her child’s death, by her role in her child’s death.”
“I didn’t have a role in Beth’s death,” Lily said. “I realize that now.”
“Do you really believe that, Lily? Just think about it, all right? Now, as for Lynda, she had a brain tumor. She was dying.”