“You don’t want to do that.” Her movements were slow, animatronic almost. “You have to listen to me, Ben. It’s very important.” She took a step toward him, and he instinctively stepped back. “It was an accident. You didn’t know how Todd Sutton could be. Let me explain.”

He wanted to listen, really, he did.

She started to speak several times but stopped. “Let’s just go inside.”

“I’m fine right here.”

She stammered her explanation. “We’d had a thing for a bit, but I’d broken things off with him. He could be violent. The afternoon of his wedding, he came by the house around one, wanting to get back together. He didn’t want to marry her, you know.”

“He came here,” said Ben, pointing down to the ground. “To this house?”

Marla looked confused. “Of course… this house. He was trying to convince me to run away with him, but I said no. That’s when things got out of hand between us. He was trying to drag me toward the car when I pushed him and he fell and hit his head. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, Ben. It was a terrible, terrible accident.” She put her hands to her face. “Please, Ben. Listen to me. We can just cover his body and go on with our lives like nothing happened. Ben, look at me.” Marla’s blue eyes were shiny, tears brimming. “You have to believe me.”

Her face was so beautiful and hopeful. In the years he’d known her, Ben had memorized every line, shadow, and angle of her face by heart. He’d worshipped this woman, throwing himself headfirst into their marriage. How easy it would be just to believe her and toss the dirt back over Todd Sutton, like he’d never seen a thing. But this explanation was simply bullshit.

He inhaled audibly, almost a wheeze. “I want to believe you, Marla, really I do, but it’s just because I don’t want to believe that I was married to someone who could do that.” He wasn’t dealing with a simple murder anymore. If she’d done this to Todd Sutton, then he wasn’t dealing with a mortal woman. “What I’m really thinking, Marla, is that men have gone missing since 1944.” He rubbed his face with his hand, sure that he’d gotten dirt all over it. “And damn if the last known location of Desmond Bennett’s car was right here on this street.”

“How on earth would I know about a murder in 1944?”

“Not only did you kill Todd Sutton, but you also killed Desmond Bennett and Peter Beaumont.”

She laughed out loud. “Do you hear yourself, Ben? You sound crazy.”