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She caught me off guard. I’d been careful about other people’s suspicions of her. She didn’t give me a chance to answer.

“I ran into Zoe Oleson,” she said. “Actually, that’s not true. She ambushed me. She showed up at my house hammered the other night. My brother, Landon, ended up having to drive her home. That’s after he pretty much had to carry her to his car.”

“And?” I asked.

“And ... she stayed on her feet long enough to accuse me of murder. And she said both Dan Holland and you believed it.”

“Well, that’s inaccurate to say the least. I don’t think so. I’m still trying to figure a few things out for myself.”

“But Detective Holland believes it,” she said. “I’ve known that for over a decade. There was a time I considered suing him for slandering my character. He was never brave enough to put things in so many words. But I know what he told those other families. He thinks I let Derrek Sidney into that house that night, doesn’t he?”

“Did you?” It was in me to be gentler. But Dad was right. This conversation was long overdue.

“No!” She shouted it, then lowered her voice. “No. I’d never met Derrek Sidney. I still haven’t. Sitting behind glass while they stuck a needle in his arm isn’t a meet and greet.”

This was a different woman than I’d met before. She was angry, confident, and bold. She’d been meek and quiet every other time. I expected that. Understood it. Geneva Bell had been through unspeakable horrors.

“The doors were locked from the inside,” I said. “You understand that’s Holland’s big problem.”

“Right. Holland’s problem. Not mine. I was asleep until I heard what was happening to the other girls. And I didn’t know what was happening until it was already too late. I’ve tortured myself over Annabelle every single night since she died. What if I’d fought harder? What if I’d screamed and drawn his attention? Why didn’t I try to pick up something heavy and bash him in the head? Maybe if Annabelle had had a chance to fight back too, the two of us could have overpowered him together. But I didn’t. And I’ll never know if it would have made a difference. My great sin is surviving. Don’t you think I know that?”

“You should have told me the whole truth the first time we met.”

“And I should have talked to the cops the first time they questioned me. Holland thinks I was faking catatonia. Can you believe that? It’s not even medically possible. I did not remember what Sidney said to me that night until months later. He’d already been recaptured and charged. The case was closed. Dan Holland had already tried to accuse me of murder. I didn’t trust him or any other cop. The next time I heard that phrase, the only man who was supposed to know what it meant had a lethal injection two minutes after he said it. It didn’t matter! Until now.”

She was right. Of course she was right. I had the same urge to strangle Dan Holland for putting her through more. And yet the contents of his murder book still haunted me. What had he refused to tell me?

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay? Okay, you believe me?”

I pulled out my phone. I’d recorded a few snippets from Sidney’s interview. “I want to show you something,” I said. “It’s part of some unaired footage from Sidney’s last interview. Do you think you can handle seeing it?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.

I turned my phone and hit play. Derrek Sidney looked at the camera. “Blackness is the gift, baby.”

Geneva sat back and covered her mouth. “He admitted it. He told that reporter what he said to me?”

“Not exactly. It was his answer to what he’d say to the families of his victims.”

“I should have told Holland. I know that. Maybe he would have believed me then. Maybe not. It’s strange that I feel relieved seeing that. I’ve been going out of my mind.”

“I’ve reviewed the polygrapher’s notes. Do you know what they said you lied about?”

She shook her head.

“How close you were with the other girls the night they died. And it read as a lie when you said you’d told the police the truth about what happened.”

She looked skyward. “That only proves I’m telling you the truth now. Because I did hold back. And you know what and why.”

“Yes,” I said. And yet I had the nagging sensation Geneva was still holding something back, even from me.

The server brought our order. We turned to small talk. Geneva was thinking about taking some classes at the community college while she helped care for her father. He’d had a recent setback. Another small stroke that made him even weaker on his left side. She’d heard what happened to my father already. We talked about that too.

I paid our check and we walked to the parking lot. I didn’t know where I could go next with her investigation. I told her this may be a dead end and went to my car.

Then I heard her scream.