Eaton turned to Henry, who was shaking his head at the floor. “You knew about this?” Eaton asked him.

“Not at the time,” Archie said quickly before Henry could answer.

“She seduced him, Bob,” Henry said, crossing the living room to take the chair nearest Eaton. “He was under a lot of pressure, remember?” Henry scratched the back of his head. The chair creaked. “Overworked. Exhausted. He was vulnerable. She knew that.” He touched his mustache. “She did it to fuck with all of us,” he said.

“It hasn’t been easy for Archie,” Claire said. She walked over and stood behind Henry. “It was a mistake,” she said, giving Archie a supportive smile. “He’s been punished enough for it.”

Archie didn’t deserve their support, but he was grateful for it.

Eaton hunched forward and studied his hands. Sanchez zipped up his FBI windbreaker and then unzipped it, and then zipped it up again. The room was so quiet Archie could hear the fridge humming. Susan perched cross-legged with her shoes on his counter, holding her sandwich with both hands, her eyes doing her own survey of the room and studiously avoiding his.

“Is that why she let you live?” Eaton asked.

“I honestly have no idea why she let me live,” Archie said.

Sanchez leaned back against the couch and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Why make this confession now?”

Archie shrugged. “I don’t care who knows anymore.”

“Like any one of you wouldn’t have fucked her given half the chance,” Claire said with a snort. Henry shot her a look. “What?” she said with a shrug. “It’s true.”

“They want to keep a lid on it,” Susan said from the kitchen, a biteful of sandwich in her cheek. “That’s what they’ve been talking about while you were in there. They think warning people she’s back will cause a panic.”

The lightness in Archie’s arms vanished. He looked around the room, stunned, waiting for someone to contradict her. Keep a lid on the fact that the Beauty Killer was back? They had to warn people—if not for the public’s protection, then to help apprehend Gretchen. Someone might spot her.

“Good to see you’re feeling better,” Sanchez said to Susan, narrowing his eyes.

“Thanks,” she said, coloring slightly. “The Midol really helped.”

“You can’t keep a lid on this,” Archie said to Eaton. Gretchen had designed this scenario after all, of that Archie was certain. And if Gretchen expected them to stay tight-lipped, the only proper response was to shout her presence from the rooftops. “You’re going to issue a statement, right, Bob?”

“Do you know what tomorrow is?” Eaton asked. The lines in his face seemed to deepen. “It’s Halloween.”

Halloween. Archie shook his head and smiled. She couldn’t have planned it better. “Of course it is,” Archie said. He moved around to the chair across from Henry and sat down.