But he grabbed my arm. “Sabine needed attention, Meggie. She didn’t care what she did to get it. She had these crazy destructive stunts. Everybody gave up on her. They had to because she screwed them over. One, by one, by one. I was the only person in our family who still spoke to her.”

“She was very popular at work,” I said, shaking off his grasp. “I did nightshifts with her many years back. But I also read about a guy at Denton Ink—”

“Denton Ink? She didn’t need to do these menial jobs.”

“Menial?”

“The family has properties in London. She was in one when she died. She had everything going for her. She could do anything she wanted. What did she choose? Cartridges? Cutting up newspapers all night? Gluing them back together again?”

“That was pretty much it.”

“You said you worked with her?”

“Yeah, if work’s what you’d call it.”

He gave a deep laugh, unexpectedly warm.

Suddenly I felt as if I could ask him anything. I thought of the photograph of Sabine as a child. The one I’d swapped with mine on the board when I did days. I said, “What made her like that? What happened to her?”

Xavier sighed. “You want to know?”

“Yes.”

“This is the saddest part.”

“I want to know.”

He kept staring in front of him for so long I thought he’d decided not to tell me. Then he said, “Nothing.”

“What do you mean, nothing?”

“She had a nice childhood. We had a good, stable home.”

“Didn’t your father leave?”

“When I was seventeen, so she was twelve, our father died. This was a tragedy, it hit her hard. But Sabine’s problems started before then. My mother did everything a parent can do for us. Everything and more. Nothing made Sabine like that. Nothing happened to her. Nothing.”

Beyond the willow tree, a scrawny little girl with a nest of fuzzy hair ran across the playground and hid in a green metal barrel. “Arabella?” a woman called after her.

Xavier said, “You know what else?”

“What?”

“I am angry with her. But—whatever trouble she caused, and Sabine caused massive trouble—I’ve never had more fun with anybody.”

“Me too,” I said.

He turned to me as if a thought had occurred. “Were you her girlfriend?”

“No.”

He smiled as if he didn’t quite believe me. I was glad he didn’t.

“Arabella!” called the woman. “Where are you? Answer me immediately!”

“I need to get to a class,” I said.

“I’ll give you a lift.”

“It’s fine, I’ve got my bike.” I opened the door.

He took a business card from his glove compartment. “Meggie, many people were taken in by Sabine. I’m in town for another week. If it helps, I can answer your questions. I can tell you everything you want to know. I can even show you some photographs.”