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Her shoulders sagged "He was dying of cancer," she said "He would have died of his own accord in another month or two He was in pain all the time" She raised her eyes to mine "You can believe what you want about ia, but you really can't turn Carl White's death into a ain All I did was lose whatever rent he would have paid in however many months of life he'd have had left to him"

"Then why did you kill him?"

"You'll try to find a way to twist this, but it was an act of mercy"

"What about Eddie Dunphy? Was that an act of ret The others were people ould have killed themselves if they'd had the wit to think of it No, Eddie wasn't an act ofhim was an act of self-preservation"

"You were afraid he would talk"

"I kneould talk He actually waltzed in here and told me he would talk He was in AA, the poor daious convert who had Jesus Christ appear to him on the side of his toaster oven He said he had to sit doith so to worry about because he would keepso the landlady could get her apartment, but I won't tell you who putto tell wouldn't tell anyone"

"He was right I wouldn't have"

"You'd have overlookedthe law, but it wouldn't be the first law I ever broke or the first hoo around the world righting wrongs I' he said to me would have been under the seal of the confessional as far as I was concerned I told him I'd keep his confidence and I would have"

"Will you keep mine?" She moved closer to me, and her hands fastened first on my wrists, then moved to my forearms "Matt," she said, "I invited you in here the first day to find out how e that I went to bed with you because I wanted to"

I didn't say anything

"I didn't count on falling in love with you," she said, "but it happened I feel foolish saying it now because you'll twist it, but it happens to be the truth I don't know if you're in love withto be, and I think that's why you're angry withbetween us fro, and I feel it now, and I know you do, too Don't you?"

"I don't knohat I feel"

"I think you do And you're a good influence onreal coffee Matt, why don't you give us a chance?"

"How can I do that?"

"It's the easiest thing in the world All you have to do is forget everything we said tonight Matt, you just told s You'd have let it go if Eddie had told you about it Why can't you do as much for me?"

"I don't know"

"Why not?" She leaned a little closer, and I could smell the scotch on her breath, and re to kill anybody else That's over forever, I swear it is And there's no real proof I ever killed anyone, is there? A couple of people had a non-lethal dose of a coave it to them Nobody can even prove I had it in ot the nu pharmacy, the date of issue, the physician's na to sleep I bought the chloral for my own consumption Matt, there's no real physical evidence And I'ood lawyers How good a case could they ainst me when all they have is circuood question"

"And why should we go through all of that?" She laid a hand on , we're both tense, it's all crazy, it's a crazy day Why don't we go to bed? Right now, the two of us, why don't we take off our clothes and go to bed and see hoe feel afterward How does that sound to you?"

"Tell me how you killed hi, he never kneas happening I went up to his rooave him a cup of tea and put the drops in it Then I caain later he was sleeping like a lamb"

"And what did you do?"

"What you said It was clever of you to figure it out You're a good detective"

"How'd youwas the T-shirt I got the clothesline hooked up, and then I sat him up and fixed the noose around his neck He never woke up I just pulled up on the clothesline and let his own body weight shut off his oxygen That's all"

"And Mrs Grod?"

"It was the way you figured it I got her to take the chloral and I unlocked hergates I didn't kill her Eddie did that He le, too, and he locked the doors from inside and went back downstairs on the fire escape Matt, they were all tired of life, the ones I killed I just gave the"