“I first met Gray on the day his wife went away. He seemed genuinely distressed.”
“Angry, too?”
“Yes, angry. He’d only just found the note she’d left him.”
“I might do some investigating myself, seeing as Evie had some connection to Kara.”
“I’m glad that Kara did leave Australia. After what happened with Evie’s car. I mean, I just feel better that she’s a long way from there.”
“Understandable.”
“So, you used to be a detective?”
“Yes, don’t look so surprised.”
“I just—”
“Because I’m not a big, burly man? I was with the police for fourteen years all up, eleven as a detective. I left a little over ten years ago, just after the accident. You see, my husband and daughter were in a boating accident.”
“Oh no . . .”
“My husband drowned. My daughter, she was revived . . . but she never regained consciousness. I left the police force on compassionate leave. I never went back. My daughter hung on for years in a coma. Seven years. Then she died. She was twenty-one.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s tragic.”
She nodded in reply. “I didn’t know what to do with myself after she was gone.”
“Is that when you became a P.I.?”
“Not long after, yes. I was offered a short stint as a private investigator by a former colleague—he also used to be a detective. It filled in the hours. Gave me some kind of purpose. I have a lot of contacts from my former profession. And I know what to say and who to talk to in order to find things out. I always did enjoy that aspect of police work. Putting all the pieces together and finding the answers. And so I decided to reinvent myself, giving myself a new name and going full-time into the P.I. business.”
“Rosemary Oort isn’t your real name? I thought your family might be Dutch or something.”
She gave a brief, sad laugh. “No. I grow rosemary in the little memorial garden I made for my husband and daughter. And as for the last name, it’s after the Oort cloud on the edge of our solar system.”
“That’s sweet, about the garden. And I didn’t know there were clouds hanging out there in space.”
“It’s not so much a cloud. After the sun and planets were formed, there was leftover rubble. The rubble assembled itself into a spherical shape and remained there. That’s what they call the cloud. I felt that way at the time—that my husband and daughter had gone on to form celestial bodies, and I was the rubble that was left behind.”
“Yours is certainly a name I’ll never forget.”
“I don’t normally tell clients any of what I just told you. But I look at you, and I can see hurt and sadness in your past, too. I thought you might understand.”
I wanted to cry. But this wasn’t the place to cry.
She was wrong about me though. Apart from losing track of Kara, my life had not been terrible. I’d lost Otto, but he’d been on a self-destructive track ever since I met him. No, my life was pretty wonderful. It was, right? Apart from my silly, middle-aged depression, I had a charmed life. A life I’d be returning to soon.
I felt a bit of a phony, because here was Rosemary, and she was the real deal.
My former reservations about her slipped away. She was exactly the person I needed in order to find Kara. Of all the things I’d gotten wrong so far, she was the one thing I’d gotten right.
34. Evie
RUTH STORMED FROM THE THIRD CHALLENGE room. The challenge had been tough on everyone but especially on Ruth.
Out in the garden, the mentors stood abreast. The cool, damp air hung over us oppressively as we went to shake their hands.
I wanted the night done and the morning sun spilling in again.
“How did you all go?” asked Sister Dawn.
“You know how we went,” said Ruth flatly.
“The mirrors are not an easy challenge for anyone except for those with the unmarked mind of a child.” Brother Vito cast a look of sympathy at Ruth.
“You’re damned lucky I didn’t smash those mirrors.” Ruth walked away and into the monastery.
“It was a cheap challenge.” Harrington eyed the mentors with a haughty expression. “What is making people feel bad about themselves supposed to achieve?”
“I’m sorry you saw no value in it,” said Brother Vito. “Well, you should all go wait in the library so that the next group can start.”
Harrington swung his lanky frame around and headed after Ruth. Duncan and Hop went next, Duncan hunching as though he were being hunted.