“Okay. I went to dinner at the Bergerons’ house because Gina’s mother invited me. After dinner, Gina and her mother asked me to come outside, and then they attacked me—”

“They attacked you? Physically?” the detective asked, gesturing. Alice noticed that there were no rings at all on any of her fingers.

“Not physically, but they ganged up on me.”

“Why did they do that?”

Alice turned and looked at Jake. His normally placid features registered a small amount of concern. She turned back to the detective. For someone who didn’t wear jewelry at all, she wore a lot of makeup.

“They didn’t like that I was still living with Jake. They thought I should get my own place.”

“Alice, you—” Jake began, but the detective interrupted.

“Why did they think that?” she asked.

“You obviously know, because you’ve talked with Mrs. Bergeron. She must have told you about the bite, so she probably told you all about everything else.”

“I’d like to hear it from you, Alice.”

“They thought Jake was taking advantage of me. It’s sick. I have no family left, and Jake is all I have. He’s more than a stepfather to me, more like a real father, and they were telling me that I should get away from him. It was crazy. I took off.”

“Why do you think they thought Jake was taking advantage of you?”

“How do I know? Gina got it stuck in her sick head, and she told her mother, and her mother believed her, I guess.”

The detective turned to Jake for the first time and asked: “Did you know anything about this?”

“No, I’m hearing this for the first time. It’s totally ridiculous. Alice is, was, my wife’s daughter. That’s all it is. Alice, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because I didn’t want to bother you. Because it was disgusting.”

“So, Alice,” Detective Metivier said. “What can you tell me about the bite?”

Alice breathed deeply through her nostrils. Some of the anger she’d felt that night was coming back, and for a brief moment she could feel Gina’s flesh between her teeth. “They kept accusing me, and I got upset. We were in the backyard and I decided to just leave. Gina ran over and grabbed me, and I just took her hand and bit it. I wanted her to let go of me, and it worked.”

“But Gina came back that night. She came here and tried to talk with you some more, right?”

“I already told the other policeman all about that. Gina was drunk. She came to apologize and wanted to go swimming as a way to restart our friendship, or something. I told her I didn’t want to, and she left. That’s all that happened.”

“You didn’t go swimming with her?”