“Peter was different, though. Oh, Peter Beaumont.” She closed her eyes like she was savoring a memory. “He could have made me forget all about Émile if I’d stayed with him long enough. I was a friend of his mother’s. He got all sentimental when Audrey told him she was pregnant and said he couldn’t see me anymore. It was like Paris all over again. But I regretted killing him the most. He always took the Wickelow Bend shortcut on his way from Cabot Farms to his house, so I parked my car there by the side of the road. He never knew what hit him. And Desmond, well, he was a bit of an asshole. I fucked him right over there”—she pointed to the lattice now facing Victor Benson’s home—“before gouging his eyes out. You were so funny, going on about fingerprints being wiped. They weren’t wiped, Ben, I just enchanted them all. The whole thing was right under your nose, but you refused to see the magic.”

She stood up and took a deep breath like she was refreshed after unburdening herself of these crimes. Then she kicked him hard in the stomach with the heel of her espadrille, which caused his body to roll. Ben fell the entire three feet into the grave, landing hard on top of what was left of Todd Sutton’s uncovered body. Upon impact, the body gave, releasing putrid smells that engulfed the hole. Ben’s head landed inches from Sutton’s, and his nose took in the pungent decay. His eyes began to water. He squirmed and tried to sit up to get away from the smell. Marla returned to find Ben trying to stand upright in the grave. The uneven dirt made it impossible for him to gain his balance and he fell, this time directly on top of Sutton. Marla furiously shoveled dirt into the hole. “Do you want me to knock you out?” She stopped and watched him squirm. “It might be easier that way… for your sake. I don’t need the blood. I don’t really enjoy it, especially not with you. You’re a good guy. I owe you that, at least.”

“Fuck you,” Ben mumbled through the tape.

“Okay then.” Marla shrugged. “You can’t say I wasn’t merciful.” She resumed tossing dirt over Ben’s feet. He sat up again and shook the dirt off. He quickly decided against getting back to his knees, which would give her another shot at the back of his head.