In the hospital, they pumped her stomach. Even after her stomach was empty, they did things to make her throw up again, “to get the poison out,” a doctor said, though she tried to tell them she’d spat out the lemon drop, she hadn’t swallowed enough poison to kill a fly. The room smelled of disinfectant and carbolic soap, scents that reminded her of Henry. Someone had dressed her in a long shapeless linen shift that felt stiff and cool against her bare skin. After a long time, she heard her mother’s voice.

“Pin.” With great effort Pin opened her eyes, to see her mother leaning over her. “My brave girl. You’re safe now. Go back to sleep. Everyone will talk to you in the morning.”

Her mother’s eyes were red, her face swollen. She looked the way she had after Abriana’s disappearance.

But Pin herself was alive, right? She wondered again where Henry was. He worked at the hospital, he must be here somewhere. Someone placed a cool compress on her forehead, smelling of rubbing alcohol and antiseptic. She heard her mother speaking, but she sounded very far away. The room grew light, then dark. When she next woke, there was only a nurse in the room with her, and her mother, who jumped from her chair, no longer grief-stricken but angry.

“What in God’s name were you doing? You could have been killed—you nearly were killed.”

The nurse left the room as Pin struggled to sit up. “Aw, Ma.” Her throat hurt too much to argue. She looked around, blinking in the sunlight, and spotted a newspaper on a small table.

Riverview Owner Says Reward Will Be Shared By Heroes

The reward! “Are the police here?” she rasped. “I need to tell them—”

Her mother nodded wearily. “They’re here. They’re waiting to talk to you. Lots of people want to talk to you,” she added. “But not until you feel up to it.”

“I feel fine. I need to tell them about the reward, we—”

But she didn’t feel fine once they had finished questioning her. Policemen, doctors, the police captain from Riverview, and another man, the Chicago police commissioner, Deneen. More doctors.

They didn’t believe her when she told them about her plan. They didn’t believe her when she mentioned Henry and told them that he worked here at the hospital, even though they asked repeatedly about the second man and how she knew him. The second man wasn’t a hero, they told her. He’d fled, almost certainly he was there to assist the murderer, then ran when he saw the policeman and the reporter. When they asked how she knew Max, she lied and told them she only knew him by sight, from the park. No matter how many times they questioned her, she repeated the same answer.