“Was there any evidence that it was Tim? Any proof at all?”

“Whispers. Among the kids. Too many of them came out and said it for it to be not true. Both of them—the Claypaths, they were monsters when they were children. I would have tried to press charges, but I wouldn’t want to go against that family.”

Robin said, “How did you not know Tim Claypath?”

“After what happened to Mr. Sammy, I kept myself to myself. My doctor said I had some kind of anxiety—he put me on some pills. I hardly left the house, and then I just didn’t at all. For three years I kept myself to myself, shut the curtains until my husband got me Rodney. He was just a little puppy when he gave him to me. Now look at him. He saved me, reminded me what was important. And the first walk I took him on... I ran into him.”

“Tim?” Robin said.

Crusher nodded. “And his dumb friends. Set me back about two years—well, I thought it did at the time. But then, maybe what happened helped that.”

“You’re talking about the Incident?” Robin said, not expecting an answer.

And he was surprised when Crusher nodded. “Imagine being afraid of clowns, then have all clowns disappear inside a tunnel. Does wonders for your anxiety. The doctor tried to convince me I was afraid of bad people—turns out I was just afraid of Tim Claypath.”

“You’re the only person I’ve talked to that seems to hate the Standedge Five. Everyone else seems to think they were God’s gift.”

“Well,” Crusher said, “let’s just say I keep my opinions to myself.” Robin didn’t buy that, seeing how easily she had offered her opinions. He expected the reality was more that Liz Crusher didn’t really have anyone to tell those opinions to. She didn’t seem like the easiest person to talk to, her abrasive manner leaving a lot to be desired.

“You still think McConnell’s crazy, though?”

Crusher’s mouth twitched up. “Of course he is. Maybe I’m not openly grieving about what happened, but what that psycho did—you’ve got to have more than one screw loose to do something like that.”

“You saw Matthew McConnell that day too. How did he seem?”

“I didn’t know who he was. He had his uniform on, so I assumed he was just a guy who was taking the others through the tunnel. He seemed fine, normal. Whatever a man who’s just about to murder five of his friends looks like, he didn’t look like it.”

Robin nodded.

Rodney looked up at him and pushed past him. Robin stepped aside. Crusher nodded and started moving, then stopped abruptly. “I’d appreciate it if you kept what I said to yourself.” She almost looked friendly.

“Of course,” Robin said, smiling his confirmation.