Dr. Banks coughed hard. “I have no idea.”

“Perhaps you should have a drink.”

He reached for his cigarette instead. “This goddamn emphysema.”

“Clearly Gene was exceptionally intelligent from an early age. Do you think—as an adult—he had the know-how to manufacture the acid by himself?”

“Yes. If he wanted to learn something, he reached for a book. No one had to teach him a thing.”

“What do you think he did with the bodies?”

“He hasn’t told you?”

“No. He’s stubborn on that point.”

“Then the bodies probably no longer exist. He reduced them to ash with his acid.”

An insightful comment. It would take a tremendous amount of acid to accomplish such a feat, though, many gallons.

“What was it like to live here after your wife died?”

“We didn’t stay. A month after Maggie’s funeral we moved to Chicago. I ceased practicing medicine.”

“What did you do?”

“I started a pharmaceutical company.”

“What was it called?”

“Banks Pharmaceuticals. We were best known as the inventors of Ribzor—that’s a diabetes drug. It controls blood sugar levels. It’s still used today. We were bought out by Merck in the mid-nineties.”

“For what amount?”

“A decent amount.”

“You must be rich.”

“I’m not hurting.”

Yet he lived in this old house. “Did you share this wealth with Gene?”

“I shared it with both my sons.”

“When did you return to Trenton?”

“A year and a half ago.”

“That was about the time when Gene started to kill.”

“Was it?”

“This house was left empty all this time?”

“No. I rented it. I just never sold it.”

“Why did you come back to Trenton?”

“To be near my son and grandchild.”

“Did you see much of Gene during the period he was killing?”

“No. He was often away. But I saw plenty of Robert and Julie.”

“What do you think of the man she’s with now?”

“I don’t know him.”

“You haven’t seen her in the last five months?”

He hesitated. “No.”

“Do you blame her for what happened?”

Dr. Banks gave her a cold look. “Do I blame Maggie for what happened? A part of me blames them all.”

Not both. All. And she had asked about Julie, not Maggie.

“Have you seen Gene in the last five months?” she asked.

“He’s not allowed to have visitors.”

“I know. But that isn’t my question, is it?”

He sucked on his cigarette. “I haven’t seen him.”

THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN