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Root had come by to collect my father’s latest mail, and I’d asked her about Vallanium I’d shown her one of the little red capsules that Michael had givenwas popular in Ta Apparently it was sold in the high schools

"What’s in it?" I asked her

"Who knows?" She rubbed her hands, looking uneasy at not having an answer

"Could you analyze this for me?"

Then Dashay sauntered in with her ruard rumors When you don’t have a presence in society, it doesn’t o to extremes Then you simply disappear and move on

But for some reason this one didto do with Mysty that night And why does everyone assume that she’s dead?"

From their faces alone, I saw that Dashay and Root assuive me the capsule" Root stretched out her hand, which rerew like fur across its back "I’ll find out what’s in it, and I’ll let you know"

Then she gathered up the ood-bye, as if she’d had h of our company

"So that Root is a friend of yours now?" Dashay’s voice dripped skepticism

"At least she doesn’t spread rumors" I felt miffed, but I couldn’t stay mad at Dashay "I have a question," I said

"You always do"

It wasn’t easy to phrase this one "It’s okay to kill a derown up thinking that all killing rong

Dashay listened toa cancer," she said "Once you know it’s there, it would be wrong not to get rid of it"

I took a deep breath "So what does it look like?"

"Every sasa is different" Dashay walked over to the bowl of nuts on the coffee table She lifted out a walnut "It was about the size and shape of this nut, but dark, and without a hard shell It’s softer, you know Like a tumor"

I’d never seen or felt a tumor, and I hoped I never would "So it doesn’t have eyes?"

Dashay laughed "You looked at it, remember? No, it does not have eyes or ears or a nose" Then she laughed again "Don’t look so disappointed It does have a little mouth--that’s how it attaches itself And it vibrates and soh-pitched sound that only foy-eyes hear"

I didn’t tell her that I’d heard it, too

Later that day we received a visit from the FBI

At the sound of the buzzer, ate She returned a ent Cecil Burton

I’d seen hio He’d turned up at the place in Kissi to find out who killed Kathleen

Now that I was a "person of interest" in Mysty’s disappearance as well, he wanted to askroo about the nature of honor, when he calances I knew this intervieasn’t going to be anything like the last one

Agent Burton’s eyes had always been world-weary, but this tiernails, buffed and tried now, as if he’d bitten them

He said, "How are you, Miss Ariella?"

I sat up "I’m fine"

He sat in a chair across from me Mãe offered him a drink and he said that water would be very nice As usual, he wore a suit and tie, in spite of the heat He looked fit, but his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept well in a long ti him awake

"Lovely place you have here" He took a small tape recorder out of his pocket and set it on the table between us

Mãe calasses of water, which she set on either side of the tape recorder

Agent Burton said he had so out what happened to Kathleen and to Mysty He asked if I wanted to help