“He wouldn’t tell me what it was about,” Eve was saying, “but he thought something was fishy. That he’d stumbled onto something big. It was something he couldn’t ignore. Anyway, I showed up at the restaurant one Tuesday. It was the day before my birthday, and we were going to have lunch to celebrate,” she said. “But Merrill didn’t show. Walt—that was the restaurant’s owner—told me he’d stopped by that morning. Said he’d be back for lunch and to make sure there were fresh crabs at hand.” She pressed her palm to Keegan’s chest. “Merrill wouldn’t miss my birthday.”

Holding her like that, Keegan could feel her shallow, even breathing, and, despite her sadness—or, perhaps, because of it—the moment held a curious allure. He ran his palm along the silk blouse at the back of her shoulders.

“I went over to Merrill’s apartment,” Eve continued, her small voice resonating through him now. “The place was locked up tight. No sign of him. So, I went back home and waited by the phone. By dinner time, I was frantic. When mother went up for the night, I headed over to Merrill’s place again. The door was ajar. He wasn’t there, but the apartment had been ransacked. I didn’t know what to do. I ran back to the restaurant. It was closed, but Walt came to the window and let me in. He hadn’t seen Merrill since that morning, but he told me he had left something for safekeeping.”

In some niggling depth, Keegan felt the need to distrust her words, to hold her story up to scrutiny—but here she was, in his arms, and he could conjure up no doubts.

“Walt went in the back room and brought out a padded envelope,” she said. “We opened it. It was a necklace. Merrill must have gotten it for my birthday. I’ve worn it ever since.” She gathered the collar of her blouse with one hand. “I never saw Merrill again,” she said. “You know the rest.”

She lifted her head to look at him, and the shattered expression on her face caught Keegan off guard.

“When they found his body,” she said, “my whole life fell to pieces.” Again, she looked from one of his eyes to the other. “Don’t you see, Jim?” she said. “That’s why I was staying at Uncle Nigel’s. That’s why I’ve been such a wreck.” She pressed her palm to his chest again. “Maybe I’ve clung to you too closely,” she said. “And I’m sorry if I did. But in all my confusion and loneliness, I fell for you.”