Northern Lights

feel like I'm still in a dream. Everything's floating inside my head."
    He decided the floor would do, and he sat again. "Carrie, I need to ask you some questions. Look at me. What time did Max leave the house last night?"
    "I don't know. I didn't know he was gone until I got up this morning. I was annoyed. He always leaves me a note on the pillow when he goes in to work at night or early in the morning."
    "When did you see him last?"
    "I saw—this morning—I saw—"
    "No." He took her hand again, tried to lead her away from that image. "Before. Was he home for dinner?"
    "Yes. We had chili. Max made it. He likes to brag about his chili. We all had dinner together."
    "What did you do then?"
    "We watched TV. Or I did. The kids watched a little, then Stella got on the phone with one of her friends, and Alex got on his computer. Max was restless. He said he was going to read a book, but he wasn't. I asked him what was up, and he was irritable with me."
    A tear spilled over, tracked a lonely line down her cheek. "He said he was working something out, and couldn't I leave him the hell alone for five minutes. We got snappy with each other. Later, when the kids were in bed, he said he was sorry. He had something on his mind. But I was still mad and shrugged him off. We hardly spoke to each other when we went to bed."
    "What time was that?"
    "About ten-thirty, I guess. But no, that's not right. I went up to bed then, and he muttered something about staying up to watch CNN or something. I didn't pay attention because I was annoyed. I went up to bed early because I was mad and didn't want to be with him. Now he's gone."
    "He was still home at ten-thirty. You didn't hear him leave?"
    "I just went straight to bed. I fell asleep. When I got up this morning, I knew he hadn't come to bed. He always pulls the sheets out from the bottom of the mattress. Drives me crazy. I thought maybe he'd been sulky and slept on the couch, but he wasn't there. I got the kids off to Ginny's. It was her turn to drive them in. Oh, my God. My God, the kids."
    "Don't worry. They're being looked after. I'm going to get all of you home once we're done here. You went into town."
    "I decided to forgive him. You can't stay mad at Max. And I was going to make him an appointment for a checkup. He's been off his feed for the last few days. I stopped to get us some breakfast, then I drove to the paper. I saw Jim and John, then I went in and found him. I found him. How could anybody hurt Max that way?"
    "Carrie, did he ever leave the back door of the paper unlocked?"
    "All the time. He never remembered to lock up. Why bother, he'd say. If somebody really wanted to get in, they'd just kick the door in anyway."
    "Did he own a handgun?"
    "Sure. A few of them. Everybody does."
    "A .22? A .22 Browning pistol."
    "Yes. Yes. I need to get my kids."
    "In a minute. Where did he keep that gun?"
    "That one? In the glove compartment of his truck. He liked to use it to target shoot, mostly. Sometimes he'd like to stop on the way home from work and shoot a few cans. Working out a story idea, he'd say."
    "Did he ever say anything to you about Patrick Galloway?"
    "Of course. Everybody's talking about Galloway these days."
    "I mean specifically. About himself and Galloway."
    "Why would he? They only knew each other for a little while before Pat left."
    Nate weighed his options. She was next-of-kin and had to be told. It might as well be now. "There was a note written on his computer."
    She knuckled at tears. "What kind of a note?"
    Nate rose again, opened the file he'd put on his desk. "I'm going to let you read a copy of it. It's not going to be easy, Carrie."
    "I want to see it now."
    Nate handed it to her, waited. He saw what little color that had come back into her face drain off again. But her eyes, rather than going dull with shock, went hot.
    "This is wrong. This is crazy. This is a lie!" As if to prove it, she sprang to her feet and ripped the printout into shreds. "This is a terrible lie, and you should be ashamed. My Max never hurt a living soul in his life. How dare you? How dare you try to say he killed someone and killed himself."
    "I'm just showing you what was on his computer."
    "And I'm telling you it's a lie. Somebody killed my husband, and
    you'd better do your job and find out who did this. Whoever hurt my Max put this lie on there, and if you believe it for one second, you can go to hell."
    She ran out of the room, and seconds later, he heard her fractured