might leave again.
'It's still quite warm for November,' I said.
'Yeah,' said Daniel. 'And October was quite pleasant too.'
In different circumstances, I would have laughed at Daniel's weather small-talk. It wasn't his style at all.
We moved back into the living room, Daniel still keeping his hands in his pockets, and his body a few feet away from mine. We sat in chairs opposite each other. I had decided not to jump him, but hope that he would talk and then go.
'So this is where Frank was killed, huh?' Daniel looked around.
The words acted like a shock, a reminder of what Daniel could do, as well as bringing back memories of finding Frank's body.
'Yes. Just there.'
I pointed to the section of scraped and scrubbed floorboard in the dining area. One of the things Lisa and I had intended to do that weekend was to cover the spot with a rug.
'And they still don't know for sure who did it, huh?'
'Not publicly. But I'm pretty certain they think it was Enever.'
'And you? What do you think?'
'I think it was Enever too.'
'Are you positive?'
I pretended to consider this for a moment. 'Yes. He killed himself, didn't he? He had everything to lose from news about the side-effects getting out. I'm sure it was him.'
'And Lisa? What does she think?'
'Oh, she thinks it was him, too.'
Daniel watched me closely. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he pulled a stubby revolver out of his pocket.
'I don't believe you,' he said.
I stared at the gun. This was not looking good at all. I had blown it. If I had jumped him when we were both standing up only a few feet away from each other, he with his gun hidden in the folds of his coat, I might have stood a chance. But now we were sitting down, ten feet apart, and he was pointing the weapon at my chest.
I swallowed. 'Why don't you believe me?'
'Because you and Lisa are too smart for that. I'd have been happier with a story about how you knew Enever wasn't responsible but you'd stopped worrying about it once you'd cleared yourself. That's what I was kind of hoping for. After the questions you were asking me yesterday, I thought I ought to make sure you hadn't jumped to any silly conclusions. Turns out I was right to be worried.'
'I know you killed him, Daniel,' I said.
'Have you talked to the police?'
I needed to play for time. I wasn't sure which answer would give me most.
'Well, have you?'
I shrugged.
'I need to know who you have spoken to.'
'And I won't tell you.'
He jerked the gun at me. 'I'll pull the trigger.'
I glared at him. I wasn't going to let him get the better of me. 'I know you will. I still won't tell you.'
I braced myself for the shot. But it didn't come. Daniel looked confused. He was thinking.
'Where's Lisa?' he asked at last.
'I told you. At the lab.'
'But you said you were both coming up here for the weekend?'
'She's coming this evening. She's got more work than she planned.'
'I heard you call out to her when I came in.'
'I thought you must be her. I assumed she'd left the lab early.'
Daniel scanned the room. 'Is that your bag, then?'
He nodded towards Lisa's black bag, lying on the floor.
'No,' I said simply.
'You're not being very truthful, are you, Simon?'
I shrugged.
'We'll wait here for her. She'll tell me who you've told. Especially when she sees me pointing a gun at you. How long will she be?'
Once again, I shrugged.
He glanced at the old grandfather clock. It was five past ten. 'We'll wait till eleven. Then we'll see. This should be a good spot to watch out for her.'
And it was. From the living room there was a perfect view of the marsh. She would be bound to come into view on her way back to the house.
We waited.
I knew why Daniel wanted to know who we had spoken to about him. If we hadn't told anyone, as indeed we hadn't yet, then once he had got us out of the way he would stand a reasonable chance of continuing to lead a normal life. Provided, of course, he managed to escape blame for our murders. If anyone else did know, then his best bet was to kill us straight away and take the first plane to South America.
Either way we ended up dead. I just didn't want my last act to be giving in to Daniel. But he was right. Lisa would tell him the truth, once she saw him pointing a gun at me.
I thought through again what Daniel had done over the previous few weeks. I had pieced most of it together, but I wanted to fill in the gaps. 'Did Enever have anything to do with Frank's death?' I asked.
Daniel laughed. 'No. Of course not. I thought about asking him for help, but there was really no need. He was doing everything he could to ignore any evidence that neuroxil-5 was dangerous. I think he just couldn't accept the idea that there might be a problem.'
'But Frank knew there was something wrong?'
'Yeah. He met some doctor in Rhode Island who was going to make trouble.'
'Why did you have to kill them? Was it because you'd borrowed money from the loan sharks Sergei Delesov introduced you to?'
'It was worse than that. I'd told them BioOne was a sure thing. The day afterward, huge volume went through in the stock. Millions of dollars. If the bad news had broken about neuroxil-5 when they were still invested, I'd have been dead meat.'
'But they got out?'
'Yep. Thanks to your warning, I got them out in time, as well as myself.'
'And everyone was happy.'
'I wouldn't say they were exactly happy with me. It was hairy there for a while. I don't think we'll be doing business together again, shall we say. But I'm still alive.'
'Yes.' I looked at him squarely. 'You are. But quite a few other people aren't.'
He just grunted.
I thought through what must have happened. 'You changed dinner to brunch with Jeff in New York, and came back to Boston that afternoon to murder Frank?'
Daniel smiled thinly. 'Very clever. I even had time to get the last flight back from Logan to New York. The hotel could vouch that I spent the weekend there.'
'And afterwards you used my spare apartment keys to let yourself in to plant the gun in my closet?'
'Seemed like a good idea,' Daniel smiled smugly. 'It nearly worked.'
'Who killed Dr Catarro?'
'The Russians. And they were the ones who were supposed to deal with you.'
'What about John? Why did you kill him?'
'I had to. He'd remembered something Frank told him about neuroxil-5. He called me to ask about it. He said he'd called you, and you were coming round to his apartment to talk to him about it. I knew I had to shut him up, and quick.'
