Page 192 of Forever Dead

Then she left. Arnold was waiting near the hospital entrance.

He helped her into the cruiser without commenting on how long it took. Selena settled the walking stick beside her leg and pulled the borrowed coat closed.

“How’s Connor?” Arnold asked.

“Tired. Trying not to show it.”

“That sounds familiar.”

Arnold pulled away from the hospital. Halloween was almost over. Parents carried sleeping children toward parked cars, and porch lights were going dark along the side streets.

“Chuck asked me to pass something on,” Arnold said. “The checks you left with us didn’t stop because of Foss.”

Selena turned toward him.

“Curtis?”

“Ginnie gave us the full account. He stayed with her both nights. She originally answered only the question we asked about Eleanor.”

“And something independent?”

“Her building’s entrance camera. It covers the only way in and out. He arrived before each murder window and didn’t leave until the following morning. The timestamps have been checked.”

Selena rested her head against the seat.

“What about Patricia treating him?”

“The facility confirmed her shifts were on a different unit. We found no treatment contact. That alone wouldn’t clear him, but the footage accounts for his movements.”

“So he lied about being home.”

“To keep Ginnie out of it. He’s admitted that now. I think we can assume he wasn’t involved and Foss was behind everything himself.”

She remembered Curtis’s history, the meatpacking work and the certainty with which fragments of a life could begin to resemble an explanation.

“I’m glad you checked.”

“So am I.”

“It’s always good police work to tie up the loose ends.”

They stopped at a red light.

“Ray Cutler’s yard records came through this afternoon as well,” Arnold continued. “Staff accounts, dispatch activity and footage. They account for him during both murder windows.”

“That wouldn’t exclude him arranging something.”

“No. But we’ve found no link between him and Foss. And the property disputes were in public records, just as Foss told you. They weren’t information only Ray could have supplied.”

Selena watched a boy in a pirate costume drag his sword along the sidewalk.

“Deacon?”

“The county employee clarified the threat. He was talking about suing Eleanor over the rats. His interest in buying her land was real, and unpleasant, but we found nothing connecting him to the killings.”

“And the vehicle he saw?”

“We’re keeping that as a witness account. His description is consistent with Foss’s sedan. It isn’t an identification.”