“Where do you think she got the drugs, Kitty?”

“She wouldn’t. She was pregnant.”

“Did you give them to her?”

“Me? My God, what kind of person do you think I am?”

To himself: One who keeps a gun next to her bed. One who had drugs hidden in her purse. One who goes down on strange guys at a club to score. Out loud, he said, “She came by here yesterday, right?”

Kitty didn’t reply.

“Why?”

“She called me,” Kitty said.

“How did she get your number?”

“She e-mailed my Facebook account. Like you did. She said it was urgent. She said she had things she needed to tell me.”

“So you e-mailed her your cell phone number.”

Kitty nodded.

“And then Suzze called. You told her to meet you here.”

“Not here,” Kitty said. “I still wasn’t sure. I didn’t know if I could trust her. I was scared.”

Myron saw it now. “So instead of giving her this address, you just told her the intersection.”

“Right. I told her to park by the Staples. That way I could watch her. Make sure she was on her own and that no one was following.”

“Who did you think might be following?”

But Kitty shook her head firmly, clearly terrified to answer. This was not a place to go, if he wanted to keep her talking. Myron got back on a more fruitful path. “So you and Suzze talked?”

“Yes.”

“What did you talk about?”

“I told you. It’s confidential.”

Myron moved closer. He tried to pretend that he didn’t detest every bone in this woman’s body. He put his hand gently on her shoulder and met her eye. “Please listen to me, okay?”

Kitty’s eyes were glazed.

“Suzze visited you here yesterday,” Myron said as though talking to a slow kindergartener. “After that, she drove up to Kasselton and spoke to Karl Snow. Do you know who that is?”

Kitty closed her eyes and nodded.

“Then she went home and took enough drugs to kill herself.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Kitty said. “Not to the baby. I know her. She was killed. They killed her.”

“Who?”

Another “I won’t talk” shake of the head.

“Kitty, you need to help me figure out what happened here. What did you two talk about?”

“We both promised.”

“She’s dead now. That trumps any promise. You’re not breaking any trust here. What did she say to you?”

Kitty reached for her purse and pulled out a pack of Kool cigarettes. For a moment she just held the pack and stared down at it. “She knew it was me who posted that ‘Not His’ comment.”

“Was she angry?”

“Just the opposite. She wanted me to forgive her.”

Myron thought about that. “Because of the rumors she spread about you when you got pregnant?”