Just when I was ready to write him off, Thatch did something decent.

“Ellison, does Anarchy think we're safe?” Mel glanced around the table. “If there is a killer among us, he could strike again.”

Perry saved me from responding. “Like everyone says, Graham was killed for a reason. Does anyone have a reason to want you dead?”

Mel shuddered. “Of course not.”

“I wonder if that’s true,” said Merit.

Mel stiffened, but Merit didn’t notice. “Maybe the killer has a taste for murder. Auden said, ‘Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table.’”

“You’re quoting Auden at us?” Thatch scoffed.

“Evil is all around us, and because evil is everywhere, it’s hard to contain. Maybe the killer likes killing. Or perhaps he discovered a taste for it when he shot Graham.”

Despite the heat. I shivered.

“Merit, you’re just a ball of sunshine,” said Libba.

Merit turned her gaze on my friend. “We're taking about evil.”

“We’re talking about whoever killed a man none of us liked. We’re wondering if it’s likely the killer will act again. If you ask me, the answer is ‘no.’”

I hoped she was right, but I lacked her certainty.

Libba wiped barbeque sauce from her fingers. “You’d better get used to talking about this weekend, because everyone and their brother will want a first-hand account.”

“Gossip.” Merit sniffed her disapproval.

Libba held up her freshly wiped hands and tilted her head. “I’m sure you'd rather talk about the nature of evil, but for most people the concept is too abstract. They know evil when they see it, or, in this case, hear about it secondhand.”

Merit’s expression was beyond sour.

“Wait a minute, Libba,” said Thatch. “I think Merit may be onto something.” Why was he encouraging her? “What is evil?”

“The taking of a human life,” Mel replied.

Thatch frowned as if he wasn’t entirely happy with her answer. “That’s an evil act, but it doesn’t encompass evil?”

“Evil is something profoundly immoral and wicked,” said Merit.

Thatch tapped his lips with his index finger. “So cheating on my wife is wicked?”

“I think there’s more to it,” I said. “I think there needs to be an intent to harm. Cheating on your wife is definitely immoral, but it’s not evil unless done with the intent to hurt her.”

“I don’t know, Ellison.” Thatch’s smile was all teeth. “Sounds like a gray area.”

“I thought lawyers liked gray areas.”

“We love gray areas,” said Perry.

“So.” Charlie draped an arm across Libba’s bare shoulders. “Murder is immoral and wicked and includes intent to harm. It’s evil.”

“But does the killer see it that way?” I mused.

“What do you mean?” asked Libba.