Detective Connors made good on all his promises. Andy’s death was ruled an accident, and neither I nor Millie was ever investigated. The story was that Andy accidentally got locked in the attic while I was away and died from dehydration. None of that explains the bruises and the missing teeth though. Detective Connors had friends in the coroner’s office, but the Winchesters are one of the most powerful and influential families in the state.
Do they know? Do they have any idea I’m responsible for his death?
Evelyn and Robert stride across the room, in the direction of the casket. I hardly know Robert, who is handsome like his son and wearing a dark suit today. Evelyn is also dressed in black, which contrasts sharply with the white of her hair, and also her white pumps. Robert’s eyes are puffy, but Evelyn looks immaculate, like she just had a spa treatment.
I drop my eyes as they approach me. I only look up when Robert clears his throat. “Nina,” he says in his deep, scratchy voice.
I swallow. “Robert…”
“Nina.” He clears his throat. “I want you to know…”
We know you killed our son. We know what you did, Nina. And we won’t rest until you spend the rest of your life rotting in prison.
“I want you to know that Evelyn and I are always there for you,” he says. “We know you’re all alone, and anything you need—you and Cecelia—you just have to ask.”
“Thank you, Robert.” My eyes well up just a little bit. Robert was always a nice enough man, if not the greatest father of all time. From what Andy told me about him, he wasn’t around that much when he was a kid. Mostly worked while Evelyn raised him. “I appreciate that.”
Robert reaches out and gently touches his son’s shoulder. I wonder if he had any idea what a monster Andy was. He had to have some idea. Or maybe Andy was just that good at hiding it. After all, I had no idea until I was scraping my fingernails against the wood of the attic door.
Robert claps a hand over his mouth. He shakes his head and grunts “Excuse me” to his wife, then he hurries out of the room. Leaving me alone with Evelyn.
Of all the people I wouldn’t want to be alone with today, Evelyn tops the list. Evelyn isn’t dumb. She must have known the problems I had in my marriage. Like Robert, she might not have known what he did to me, but she must have sensed the friction between us.
She must have sensed how I really felt about him.
“Nina,” she says drily.
“Evelyn,” I say.
She looks down at Andy’s face. I try to read her expression, but it’s hard. I don’t know if it’s all the Botox or if she always looked that way.
“You know,” she says, “I spoke to an old friend at the police station about Andy.”
My stomach clenches. According to Detective Connors, the case is closed. Andy always taunted me about an alleged letter to the station police that would be sent over in case of his death, but no letter ever materialized. I was never sure if it was because there never was a letter or if the detective got rid of it.
“Oh?” is all I can manage.
“Yes,” she murmurs. “They told me how he looked when they found him.” Her shrewd eyes bore into me. “They told me about his missing teeth.”
Oh God. She knows.
She definitely knows. Anyone aware of the state of Andy’s mouth when the police found him had to know that his death was not accidental. Nobody yanks their own teeth out with pliers. Not willingly.
It’s all over. When I walk out of this funeral home, the police will probably be waiting for me. They will snap handcuffs on my wrists and read me my rights. And then I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison.
I won’t tell anyone about Millie though. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged down too. She gave me a chance to be free. I’m going to leave her out of it.
“Evelyn,” I choke out. “I… I don’t…”
Her eyes drift back to her son’s face, at his long eyelashes, closed forever. She purses her lips. “I always told him,” she says, “how important dental hygiene is. I told him he had to brush every night, and when he didn’t, there would be a punishment. There’s always a punishment when you break the rules.”
What? What is she saying?
“Evelyn…”
“If you don’t take care of your teeth,” she continues, “then you lose the privilege to have teeth.”
“Evelyn?”
“Andy knew that. He knew that was my rule.” She lifts her eyes. “When I pulled out one of his baby teeth with pliers, I thought he understood.”