Fall Guy

change my mind.
    Then I noticed something else. Lying next to the body, there was a key ring. That was odd, I thought, because there were only three keys on it, none of them a car key.
    I stepped back down to the sidewalk and called Dashiell. He put his front paws on the edge of the Dumpster and jumped down to the sidewalk. I took his face in my hands and looked into his eyes. „You're the greatest,“ I wanted to tell him, but when I tried to speak, the words wouldn't come. I sat on the curb, my arm around my dog, until I was able to swallow again. Then I stood, pulled out my cell phone and dialed Brody's.
    „Where are you?“ I asked.
    „Rachel?“
    „Where are you?“
    „I'm at the house,“ he said. „What's wrong?“
    „I'm on the comer of Horatio and Greenwich Street,“ I said. „Dashiell just found a body in the Dumpster next to the comer building.“
    „I'll be right there.“
    „Michael.“
    „Yes?“
    I looked back at the car parked directly across the street. It was hard to miss, a brand-new, shiny gold Lexus with dealer's plates.
    „It's Dennis O'Fallon.“

CHAPTER 22
    Is that you, Rachel?“ she called from the kitchen.
    „Yes, it's me.“ I unhooked Dashiell's leash and dropped it onto the little table right near the door.
    „Did you have trouble? You were gone a long time.“
    I walked back to where the voice and the smell of Soft Scrub were coming from. The cabinet doors were all ajar to let their spotless shelves dry. You could have eaten off the counters. Maggie was on the floor, on her hands and knees, a small bucket with soapy water next to her. She was wearing a pair of rubber gloves and working on a particularly stubborn scuff mark.
    „Almost finished,“ she said. „I didn't want to leave all this hard work to you. You said you hardly knew Tim. It just doesn't seem fair.“
    Dashiell started toward Maggie. Anything, or anyone, on the floor belongs to the dog, and having just worked his heart out, he was ready to press his cheek against Maggie's and get a little ear scratch for his troubles. I stopped him with a hand signal, watching Maggie trying to scrub away her grief, thinking about how we all did that, one way or another, thinking mostly of what I was about to tell her.
    „There,“ she said, looking up for the first time, her face damp and flushed with pleasure. „That's much better now.“ She sat back on her heels. There was a dish towel tucked into her waistband, another under her knees to keep her slacks clean. „Did you get the boxes?“
    „No, I didn't, Maggie. I never got to the store.“
    She pulled off the gloves and stood, picking up the pail as she got up. She turned and walked into the bathroom, dumped the rest of the water in the toilet and flushed. Then she put the pail down and came back out, pushing some tendrils of wet hair off one cheek.
    „I don't understand.“
    But looking at her face, watching her watch me, I had the sinking feeling she did.
    „Let's go in the living room and sit down,“ I said, holding out a hand for her to take.
    „No,“ she said. „I don't care to sit down. There's work to do here.“ She turned toward the sink now, hoping for a miracle, a pile of dirty dishes to wash, a pot to scour, some way she could exchange her sweat for the truth to come.
    „It's Dermis,“ I told her. „He did come for the memorial. We found his car across the street.“
    She faced me now. „What do you mean, you found his car?“
    „Dashiell alerted near the comer. There's construction going on there and—“
    „Alerted? What does that mean?“
    „It means he indicated that he'd found something.“ I bit my lip, unable to deliver the next blow.
    „He found Dennis? You mean he's hurt? Something fell on him?“ Maggie pulled the dish towel from her waistband and without looking tossed it onto the counter, wiping both cheeks with her hand as soon as it was free. „Where is he? Is he in the hospital?“
    I shook my head. „I'm so sorry, Maggie. He's dead. It wasn't an accident. Someone killed him.“
    She opened her mouth and roared, not a human sound at all. Her hands flew into her hair, tearing at it. I closed the distance between us with one step, putting my arms around her, squeezing her close, feeling her body shudder and convulse. „No,“ she cried, „it can't be. It can't be.“
    I got Maggie into the living room and sat her on the couch, going back to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. But when I offered her the water, she