The Web

'Okay,' I said. 'You're a political prisoner, giving the world the silent treatment as a protest against injustice.'

Still no response.

I waited some more. His cheeks were sunken- almost as hollow as Moreland's- and his eyes looked remote.

No eyeglasses. They'd been taken from him. Along with his shoelaces and belt and watch and anything else hard-edged. An angry boil had broken out on the back of his neck.

I kept staring at him, hoping my scrutiny would cause him to react. His nails were gnawed almost to the quick, one thumb bloody. Had he always been a biter? I'd never noticed. Or had Betty Aguilar resisted and snapped off some keratin? A clue he'd tried to conceal by chewing his other fingers?

I looked for nail bits on the floor. Nothing but inlaid dirt and scuffmarks, but they could have been tossed down the toilet hole. Big black ants single-filed under the bunk. After Moreland's zoo, they were laughable.

No scratches on his face and hands.

His color was bad, but he was unmarked.

'How well do you see without your glasses?'

Silence.

Slow count to one thousand.

'This isn't exactly the behavior of an innocent man, Ben.'

Nothing.

'What about your family?' I said. 'Claire and the kids.'

No response.

'I know this has been a nightmare for you, but you're not helping yourself.'

Nothing.

'You're being a fool,' I said, loud as I could without attracting Dennis's attention. 'Pigheaded like Moreland, but sometimes it pays to think independently.'

Involuntary flinch.

Then back to stone-face.

'Sins of the father,' I went on. 'People are already making that connection.'

His lower lip twitched.

'Guilt by association,' I went on. 'That's why I had to come down here. Moreland's confined to the estate because Dennis is afraid of what people might do to him. We're all confined. It's gotten ugly.'

Silence.

'People are angry, Ben. It's only a matter of time before they start wondering about his being Dr. Frankenstein, what he does in that lab. If maybe AnneMarie and Betty were his idea as well as yours.'

The lip dropped, then snapped shut.

I gave him a few more minutes, then came closer and spoke to his left ear.

'If you're really as loyal as you make out, tell me what happened. If you butchered Betty on your own, just admit it and let them know Moreland had nothing to do with it. If you have another story, tell it, too. You're not helping yourself or anyone else this way.'

Nothing.

'Unless Moreland did have something to do with it,' I said.

No movement.

'Maybe he did. All those late-night walks. God knows what he was up to. I saw him one night, two A.M., carrying his doctor's bag. Treating who? And those surgical tools were his.'

Another flinch. Stronger.

Flick of his head.

'What?' I said.

He clamped his mouth shut.

'He studies predators. Maybe his interest isn't limited to bugs.'

He blinked hard and fast. Exactly the way Moreland did when he was nervous.

'Is he in on it with you, Ben? Did he teach you- Aruk's own Dr. Mengele?'

Half a headshake turned into a full one.

'Okay,' I said. 'So why clam up like this?'

Back to immobility.

'You want me to believe you did do it, alone. Okay, I'll buy it, for the moment. No surprise, I guess, given your family history.'

Silence.

'Your criminal history, too,' I added. 'Some sex killers start off as peepers. Some of them search for new ways to deal with their impotence. AnneMarie wasn't penetrated sexually, and I bet Betty wasn't, either.'

More blinking, as if to make up for lost time.

'Dennis told me about the Hawaii arrest. Soon everyone will know about it, including Claire and the kids. And Dr. Bill. If he doesn't already.'

He let out hot, sour breath.

I forced myself to remain close.

'What else were you up to, back then? Ever travel to the mainland when you were in the Guard? See the sights- maybe Washington, D.C.?'

Blank look.

'Peeping Tom,' I said. 'Vivaldi on the terrace doesn't cancel it out. Whatever else you did over there will come out too, once they really start checking.'

No reaction.

'The reason I mentioned D.C. is it's not far from a place called Wiggsburg, Maryland.'

His eyes angled downward. Puzzled? Distressed? Then they were staring straight ahead, again, as unmoving as when I'd entered.

I was coated with sweat. Had become accustomed to the sulfur stench.

'The funny thing is, Ben, it's still hard for me to think of you that way. Despite the evidence. Do you actually like to eat people? Odd for someone raised by a vegetarian. Unless that's the point.'

He began breathing hard and fast.

'Is it your way of slapping Moreland in the face?'

He inhaled deeply, held his breath. His hands began curling and tightening, the knuckles almost glassy. I stepped back but kept talking:

'The brain, the liver. The bone marrow? How does something like that start? When did it start?'

He struggled to stay calm.

'Moreland taught you a lot about medicine. Did it include dissection?'

His chest swelled and his skin turned as gray as the cell floor.

Then he stopped.

Stilling his eyes.

Composing himself.

Another slow count. To two thousand.

I stood there watching him.

He pressed one hand against his breastbone.

His eyes, suddenly clear.

Not with insight.

Washed by tears.

He began shaking, flung his arms wide, as if welcoming crucifixion.

Staring at me.

I moved back further, my spine at the wall. Had I pushed it too far?

His arms fell.