On the top were around two dozen paperbacks, books that she had read to pass the time when she had been alone. They went into the garbage. Below were two drawers. In the top, she had kept her panties and bras. He thought about keeping a set, but decided that it would be a little weird. Not that he minded being pervy, but it was better to make a clean break. He started folding the underwear, then decided to dump it all into the garbage. Underneath all that cotton and lace were several jewelry boxes, including one with the diamond necklace he had given her. She had never worn it. Still, she had accepted it as combat pay for being raped and sodomized.

Donatti fished it from the drawer and opened the hinged top. Talia had picked it out. The woman had good taste. Then he reached in his pocket and took out Terry’s engagement ring—also picked out by his former assistant. He had buried Terry with her wedding band, but for some reason he had wanted to keep the diamond ring. No more. He put the ring inside the necklace box, shut the lid, and threw it in the duffel.

The watch box contained her Rolex, her diamond studs that she adored, the pearl earrings that he had bought her when she was sixteen, and his mother’s cross. Each piece was a slice of his life. But instead of dwelling on the past, he shooed the memories from his mind. He stared at the cross, then he took it out and put it around his neck. Some of the girls saw Terry wearing it at the end-of-summer party. They’d like that he kept it as a memento of her, wearing it like he wore his wedding ring. It made him a sympathetic figure. And when the ladies felt sorry for him, they worked harder. He closed the watch box with the Rolex and the two sets of earrings and dumped it into the duffel. He was almost there, just the bottom nightstand drawer left.

He opened it up.

It was empty except for one item stuffed inside: a jumbled mess of fabric.

It was her Manson girl dress.