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Halifax, October 18
9:35 p.m.
Audra carried the case folders into the den and set them on her desk. She began sorting the files in proper sequence so one report built upon the one before it. Lastly, she began laying out heaps of Allan’s notes. They detailed his narrative from the moment he’d arrived at the Mary Driscow murder scene to the day he received the DNA report clearing Gary Strickland.
“Hey, babe.”
Turning, Audra saw Daniel in the doorway. He was still dressed in his office clothes: shirt pulled out over his pants, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
“Oh, hey,” she said. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Watching the sports highlights.”
“Yankees play tonight?”
“This afternoon.” Daniel twisted one side of his mouth. “They got their asses kicked. Eight zip.”
“Shit. What game was it?”
“Third,” he said. “Rangers are up two to one. They’ll probably take the series.”
“It’s not over yet. They have to win four, right?”
Doubt tightened Daniel’s face. “Hmmm. The fat lady’s warming up her vocal cords.”
“You don’t think they’ll come back?”
“I don’t think they have it this year.”
Audra continued sorting the notes.
Daniel said, “Daphne told me you gave your speech today.”
“I did.”
“How’d it go?”
Audra stopped a moment. “I was scared shitless.”
“I can imagine,” Daniel said. “Are you hungry?”
“I wasn’t until I smelled the pizza.”
“Yeah, we decided to order out.”
Audra raised an eyebrow. “Uh, would it kill either of you to cook something?”
Daniel smiled. “Well...you know my cooking. We have to pray after we eat.”
The two of them burst out laughing.
“Uh-huh,” Audra said. “That’s true.”
“We got you a salad.”
“Piatto’s?”
“Tomavino’s.”
“We haven’t ordered from there in a while.”
“Thought we’d try a different place.”
“Any pizza left?”
“A few slices. Want some?”
“What kind is it?”
“Bel Cibo.”
Audra perked up. “Is that the one with prosciutto and artichokes?”
“Yup. The one you like.”
“In that case, I will have a slice.”
“Tea?”
“Sure.”
“Chamomile?”
“Green. I need to be up for a while. I have all these files to go through.”
Daniel frowned. “All those?”
“All these,” she said.
“I’ll put on the kettle.”
Audra finished laying out Allan’s notes. There had to be over a hundred.
Before starting them, she went upstairs to Daphne’s bedroom. The door was closed. A light shone under it.
Audra gave a quick knock then walked inside. Daphne was sitting at her desk with her nose buried in a textbook. She looked over and flashed a bright grin.
“Hi, Mom,” she said.
“Hi, honey. You doin’ homework?”
Daphne swiveled around in the chair to face her.
“Studying,” she said. “We have a test tomorrow.”
“Oh, I won’t keep you.”
“That’s all right. I’m just reviewing stuff.”
“What’s your test on?”
Daphne wrinkled her nose. “Science.”
“Ah. I always found that intriguing.”
“I guess I’m not the sciency type.”
“What’re you learning?”
“Atomic theory. Protons. Electrons. Neutrons.”
“Cool stuff.”
Daphne shot a quick breath out through her nose.
“You don’t think so?” Audra said.
“Not really.”
Audra smiled at her. “How was your day?”
“Good.” Daphne matched her smile. “I loved your speech this morning.”
“Did it sound okay?”
“It was awesome. A lot of other kids thought so too.”
Audra snorted. “I was scared shitless up there.”
“Really? You didn’t look like it.”
“Oh, I was. Believe me.”
“I don’t know how you did it,” Daphne said. “I couldn’t. Get up there in front of everybody. Talk about that.”
“Talking about bullying was easy. Sharing what I went through was hard.”
Daphne’s face went slack, and a small hint of sadness appeared in her eyes. “Did you do it for me, Mom?”
Audra held her gaze for a moment, felt all that bleak fear and stress of her suicide attempt flooding her mind.
At last, she nodded. “I also did it for the kids.”
Daphne’s smile returned. “I’m proud of you, Mom.”
Audra felt the words melt her heart. There was something priceless in hearing that from your child.
“Oh, honey.” She gave Daphne a hug and kissed the top of her head. “You could never be as proud of me as I am of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Good luck on your test tomorrow.”
When Audra returned downstairs, Daniel handed her the cup of green tea.
“Pizza’s on your desk,” he said. “I warmed it up for you.”
“Thanks, hon.” Audra stopped at the doorway to the den. “Can you give Daphne a lift to school in the morning? I have to be at the office early.”
“Sure. What time are you leaving?”
“Have to be there for six.”
“Big day ahead?”
“Yeah,” Audra said. “Hopefully, I’ll get a couple hours of sleep before then.”
She walked into the den and closed the door.
