Maybe Noah was right. If Xavier Renton is as unbalanced and unreliable as both men implied, his input might not be worth considering. But something made Detective White go there. It was reason enough for him to even consider the visit, so it had to have some significance. Besides, I need to know why he’s sitting in that cell to begin with.
I go into the living room and open up my computer on the coffee table. Typing Xavier’s name into the search engine, I scroll through the first few results. It doesn't take long to get past the social media profiles to the results that actually matter. When I see them, my stomach sinks.
"Convicted of Murdering His Best Friend, Xavier Renton Might Avoid Execution," reads the headline.
Snatching up my phone, I call Sam.
“Miss me already?” he asks.
“He's a murderer,” I start, barely even registering his teasing question.
“I'll take that as a no,” Sam notes. “Who's a murderer?”
“Xavier Renton,” I say. “Did you know that?”
“Yeah,” he says. “He killed some guy he knew because of one of his ridiculous conspiracy theories.”
I shake my head even though I know Sam can't see me.
"Not some guy. He was convicted of killing his best friend. He sealed him up in his reinforced garage and let it fill up with exhaust fumes."
I've been in a garage as it slowly filled up with deadly fumes. I know how horrific it is. Just the memory of the desperation and terror as I started to struggle to breathe makes my heart pound a little faster. I instantly feel sympathy for the man who died that way at the hands of a man he trusted.
"That's horrible," Sam says. "But I don't understand what it has to do with Lakyn Monroe."
"Neither do I," I tell him.
When I'm off the phone, I read through the article again, then pull an original one from when the crime happened. Andrew Eagen was a quiet, fairly mild-mannered guy who was known to have a close friendship with Xavier Renton. The death was unexpected, and everyone who knew both of them was shocked when all the evidence confirmed Xavier murdered his best friend. The only explanation was that his unstable mind was crafting conspiracies and beliefs that must have driven him to believe Andrew needed to die.
Despite his eccentricities, Renton was deemed competent for trial by three separate doctors. All said that he was challenging to communicate with and had extreme thoughts, but was bright, responsive, and very aware of everything around him. He didn't have delusions and didn't show any of the characteristics of being dissociative. Though he acknowledged Andrew was dead, he was absolutely adamant that he’d had nothing to do with it. When asked who he thought was responsible, the only part of what he said that they understood was: "They are all around, but you can't see them. They're here. Always."
He was convicted and sentenced to death. The first article I read, along with several others, noted the outrage the public had over the sentence. Even if he wasn't considered criminally insane, they believed his obviously abnormal thoughts and the inexplicable nature of the crime at least warranted life in prison.
And now he has a chance. With his execution date looming, he was finally granted the opportunity of a new trial. A review of the case cast doubt on how it was managed and whether the sentence was appropriate. It's good news, but it doesn't mean Xavier is safe. Without new evidence or a different case presented by the defense, it's unlikely he'll get any other outcome from a new trial.
I still don't understand why Noah would want to interview Xavier until I read the next article. Scanning through, I get basically the same information. But it's a last, almost throwaway line in the last paragraph that catches my attention.
"Lakyn Monroe, noted wrongful conviction and imprisonment advocate, has taken an interest in Xavier's case and is said to have been in contact with him. It is unclear whether her celebrity influence had anything to do with the court's decision."
Chapter Twenty-Five Lilith
Three days ago…
She kept up a good speed as she moved down the rows at the front of the cornfield. Quick heat and abundant rain meant a fast harvest, and the ears were ready to be pulled from the stalks. She left some of them intact for the maze, but the further she moved away from the planned paths, the more she harvested until she was taking every ear from every stalk.
Stout, round baskets made of bent wooden boards and tied tight with bands of metal sat at regular intervals throughout the field. Lilith loaded the corn into them as she picked, then brought them to the storage barn. Years of practice and craft had honed her muscle memory, so she got the work done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
She first laid out the baskets, carrying them all to the far end of the field and putting them into place until she got back to the start of the row. She left a stack of baskets at the end of that row to be put in the next row. Once she had put all the baskets in place, she started going down the row, picking and filling. When she reached the end of that row, she moved the furthest basket up to the next one, then dragged both of those to the next. Then took two trips to bring those to the next basket, all the way to the end. From there, she could carry them to the barn, then return to repeat the process on the next row.
Those first few rows were easy. But her hands started shaking the further she moved
