Keegan remained where he stood near the window. “I’ve been talking to Lieutenant Moore,” he said. He thought of the blinding ripple of sunlight coming off the water at the wishing well, and felt the same headache gathering behind his eyes. WEALTH. WISDOM. LOVE. SERENITY. “He’s got me half convinced you set me up.”

Eve’s expression went blank, like, again, she needed a beat or two for his meaning to sink in. And then her mouth dropped open. “Wait, what?” she said. Exasperation seemed to crowd out whatever sympathy she’d been feeling a few seconds ago.

“Not so loud,” Keegan hissed at her. “Everybody’s got their windows open. No one can know you’re here.”

Eve waved his warning away and made no effort to lower her voice. “What are you saying? Are you starting to agree with him?”

Keegan squeezed his temples with the span of his right hand. Damn this headache. Damn Lieutenant Moore. “He keeps hinting that you’re not what you pretend to be.”

Eve shook her head, mouth open. “Jim, this isn’t fair,” she said. Her voice seemed tired, worn down, nearing surrender. “I don’t know what that man’s been telling you. Please just come and sit down.” With one small hand, she patted the empty bedspread beside her.

Keegan stood studying her. His sweat-sodden shirt clung to him like a steamed towel, and the sensation made his skin crawl.

Eve sat looking back at him, her unsullied brow furrowed now. How could it be an act? Goddamn Louis Moore.

Keegan had to press on. It was the only way to get past this, to get to the truth, to formulate a plan. “Guns don’t just go off,” he said, lamely. “You had to have pulled the trigger.”

Eve’s shoulders slumped a little and then rose back up. She shook her head, but the hopeless gesture turned into a nod. “I did pull the trigger.” Her voice was strangely steady now. “When have I ever denied it?” she said. “Come. Please. Sit.” Again, her hand patted the empty space next to her.

Again, like it was a trap he wouldn’t be lured into, Keegan kept his distance. He stood by the curtains and tried to force his wheeling thoughts into words. “Looked at a certain way, it seems like everything you’ve done since the moment we met was designed to suck me into this chaos.”

Eve shook her head again, wretchedly, her patience wearing thin. “What does that even mean?” she said. “That I’m some kind of evil genius? That I planned this whole sordid fiasco out, like some B-movie femme fatale?”