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Even Richard Draco No, especially Richard Draco His life was not a series of choices, but a coe Everyone he touched was dah on ly, deliberately, viciously, deserved extermination

I only wish there had been pain, great waves of pain, huge sweeps of knowledge, of fear, of grief in that instant before the knife pierced his heart

But in planning his execution, I had self-preservation in mind as well I suppose I still do

Should I be given the opportunity to do it over again, I would change nothing I will not feign re of a leech

I have so Linus Quily, cold-hearted little man My choice could have been to pay him off, but blackmail is a kind of disease, isn’t it? Once the body is infected by it, it spreads and returns at inopportune moments Why risk it?

Still, it brought e his death In fact, it was necessary to sedate my nerves and anxiety I made certain he felt no pain, no fear, but died with the illusion of pleasure

But that, I suppose, doesn’t negate the act of ending yet another life

I thought I was so clever, staging Richard’shim had reason to wish hi the knife Christine Vole would plunge into the black, miserable heart of Leonard Vole be a real one It was so beautifully apt

I regret and apologize for causingthem, even for the short term, under any suspicion Foolish of o this far

No one, I told myself, cared about Richard His death would be mourned by no one who knew hilimmer on pale cheeks for the audience

But I miscalculated Lieutenant Dallas cares Oh, not about Richard perhaps She has certainly unearthed enough truth about hiust But she cares about the law I believe it’s her religion, this standing for the murdered dead

I realized that very soon after looking into her eyes After all, I’ve spentthem

In the end, I’ve done what I set out to do, what I believe with all hted incalculable wrongs

Isn’t that justice?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN