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Lamartha stared at the brown stain on the dining hall table. The detective had taken each of them into Emie’s windowless office for a few last questions, one by one. Now they all sat around the meal tables, silent as church mouses, eyes downcast, except for Dania who sat slouched with her arms crossed across her chest. Lamartha doubted her nerves would ever recover, each one as tight as a board. She felt as if she could hardly breathe. Today was closing day for the facility. Within the past week, Emie had finally found facilities that had the proper housing for Kevin, Alexa, Shyly and Bert. Poor Shyly had undergone intense questioning and scrutiny, being the one to find Abby and then having possession of her necklace, but Shyly was safely gone and it didn’t seem to concern the officers. There was about to be an arrest, one of the eight of them. Craig and Sandra, the custodians, Markie and Dania, chef and dietician, Emie, the social worker, Elrick and Miana the CNAs, and Lamartha herself. She felt as if she had failed all of them. She had hired each and had obviously missed that one was capable of stealing life from another in such a horrid way. “Thank you all for meeting me here today and for cooperating,” the detective began, his intense dark gaze slicing over the room. “You didn’t give us much of a choice,” Elrick said, glancing at his wrist watch. “How much longer is this going to take?” “Just a few minutes,” the detective said and slowly sauntered to the front of the tables. “This whole thing seemed cut and dry, really. Easy enough to suspect Miss Parly, but something didn’t sit quite right with me about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “We know who was supposed to be here that night.” “I gave you the schedule right away, Craig and Elrick were overnight that night,” Lamartha said, glancing at each of the men. “I told you, I was cleaning the offices and napped. Never heard anything out of the ordinary. Abby was chipper as always,” Craig said. “I was at the front desk except for when I helped Abby with the rounds,” Elrick said. “I have the time stamps on my notes.” “Yes, Yes,” the detective said, waving his hand as if a white flag. “But someone else was here too.” “Don’t point that finger at me,” Dania grumbled. Emie wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Miana hugged herself. Markie and Sandra sat silently beside each other. “No finger pointing, just confirming. See, there were other unscrupulous things happening here before Ms. Starly’s murder. It’s why this facility was being closed down, isn’t it Ms. Schnidt?” Lamartha startled when his attentions settled on her. “I…Yes, I reported them all.” “Indeed you did. It’s well documented about the unbalanced numbers and also about the missing medications. Your husband was questioned,” he spun to face Dania, “Was he not?” “And replaced,” Dania said. “He has nothing to do with this place now, and I’ll be glad to be through with it.” “I’m sure you will,” the detective said, his gaze lingering on her a little too long. “See, we know who was supposed to be here that night. We know Abby went to go home when her 10 o’clock shift ended that night, she was helping you out, was she not?” He turned to Elrick. “She stayed till I got out of my intern shift.” Elrick said. “Studying to be a Registered Nurse, are you not.” “That’s right. I got here, helped Abby do the last check for the night and took up my position at the front desk. Craig knows, we kept each other company.” “You ever notice missing medications?” The detective asked. “We all did,” Elrick said. “Abby reported them.” The detective inhaled loudly, and raised his face to the ceiling. “Yes, she did, and I believe there is one who was not happy about that. One of you didn’t appreciate her paying such close attention when you skimmed bottles from the cabinet.” “Only Abby had access to the cabinet,” Dania said. “Not true,” the detective said. “The CNAs do also, don’t you?” “For emergencies only,” Elrick said. “Sometimes one of the patients would need something through the night,” Miana said. “For certain,” the detective said, his gaze landing solidly on Miana. “And it was so easy, wasn’t it? Just a little at first, but then you realized how easy the money came in.” “I, no, no.” “Until Abby caught you. You knew she was staying later that evening. You knew she was going to report you come the following morning.” Miana’s eyes grew wide. “You knew enough about what to use and how to administer it to subdue Ms. Starly.” “I’m not, no, I just assist.” “But in assisting, you learned enough. You didn’t leave that night when your shift was over, did you? You stuck around, staying out of sight when Mr. Venkly did his duties. Until Abby returned to the break room to gather her things after her shift. You knew all would be quiet in that hallway, and you also knew Shyly Parly liked to walk the commons room and was a curious type. You made it possible for her to wander out of her room. All you had to do was let the hallway door unlatched, didn’t you?” “No, no, I did no such thing. What about Shyly, she had her necklace.” “Yes, given to her by you.” “No, she had it, she did.” “You thought she was too drugged to notice you put it around her neck. But she wasn’t. She knew. An officer walked to Miana, cuffs in hand. “That’s why she wasn’t doing well,” Emie said. “The person who was caring for her…she knew.” “Indeed,” the detective said. “What do you know,” Miana spat, “what do any of you know?” Lamartha sank into her seat, watching the young woman she had trusted whole heartedly through the years they worked together. Her judgments where Miana was concerned were skewed. She bid everyone a goodbye, watching them slowly pull out of the parking lot for the last time. She stood for a moment at the door, looking back into the vacant and dark interior of the grand building, remembering all the laughter, and the struggles she’d shared with the staff through the years before latching the door, the keys left on the empty front desk. She worked the latch once to make sure it was locked tight, then turned away from Hart House and its ghosts.

Emie, wiped her sweaty palm on her slacks, staring wide eyed around the small break room. She ran through her last conversation with the detective in her mind. She called him days ago, feeling she had to mention the necklace she’d seen several times around Shyly’s neck. She’d tried to ask the woman about it but any mention of Abby sent Shyly into an uncontrollable wave of misery that Emie couldn’t bear to inflict on her. But now, now Lamartha had just told them all that the detective had contacted her. They asked to schedule meetings with all the in house employees. In a glance around the room, she saw everyone in a state of surprise, like she felt. Lamartha seemed to age more every minute, her shoulders more rounded, wrinkles more pronounced around her eyes and mouth. It meant someone they saw weekly had stripped sweet Abby of her life. Everywhere she glanced, her coworkers eyes either met or averted her own. A tear slipped from the corner of Miana’s eye, one she quickly brushed away. Dania slapped her hand on the table, “Oh, that’s just great, what are they going to do, pin it on one of us because they can’t do anything better.” “It’s just those of you who were here that night, right?” Elrick said. Lamartha shook her head with a weary sigh. “They asked for anyone who had a key and wasn’t out of town at the time.” “Oh, well that leaves the good doctors out,” Dania spat. “This is all I need,” Elrick said. “When do I have to carve out time for their interrogation?” “Time? Is that all you’re worried about,” Miana coughed on a sob. “There’s so much more to worry about here. And—and Abby lost all her time.” “Look,” Lamartha said. “They’re just doing their job. If we all just answer them fully and truthfully, it’ll be fine. We can get through this.” “Does it mean they know something?” Dania spat. Fully upright in her chair, she slapped the table again. “They best not try to pin it on me.” “Maybe it was you,” Miana said, sitting up in her own chair with a strange eagerness. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Dania said with a sneer. “Enough!” Lamartha shot to her feet. “What has happened to us?” “Life,” Emie heard herself say. “Death. All faces turned to her, mouths agape. Tired, mother hen, Lamartha. Ready to fight the world Dania. Sweet, pick up everyone else’s slack, Miana. Aspiring against the odds Elrick. And herself, always trying to hold everything together. Her stomach sickened with the realization that one of them had robbed the world of Abby. But which of them did the horrible deed?

Thunder banged, hammering its way through the walls and seeming to echo even louder in the empty second floor above. Mother Nature’s tantrum was nothing new for the day. The bang on the table, that was different. Elrick Bandor glanced up from his computer to the residents. Kevin’s voice raised an octave. He and Burt sat at the table outside their bedroom focused on one board game or another. Elrick watched them a moment, Kevin’s hand slapping the table, his legs bouncing in anticipation of Burt’s next move. Burt sat calm and quiet, like the older lumbering giant he was, studying the game board, he no sooner moved his piece and Kevin pounced for his, leaving Burt to painfully contemplate another move with no time to take a breath. From their body language, Elrick decided none of the actions or loudness was due to anything more than excitement. It was encouraging to see them engaged and enjoying a game. Not much of that had happened since the tragedy at the start of the month. Elrick ran his hands over his tight-curled coarse hair. He had feared the circumstances would set the four remaining residents back in their treatments, making Emie’s job that much harder. Only time would tell, really. He returned his attention to his studies on the computer, adjusting his wire framed glasses. He sipped his mineral water, making notes as he did, making sure to glance at the residents every so often to make sure they were all where they were supposed to be. He was little more than an overpaid babysitter these days, all because the alphabet soup after his name didn’t have the right letters. Not yet. It would take a while, but when it was all said and done, he’d be in a position to garner more respect and the first in any generation of his family to reach such a level. As long as this current job didn’t mess him up. It wasn’t easy doing the studies and juggling what Miana wouldn’t help him out with. He shook off the flare of frustration with the thought. She acted like he inconvenienced her, taking off most mornings to actually attend a class. The hours crept on, but not quickly enough. He glanced at the clock above the game shelves Sandra ran the feather duster over, pretending to clean, though all the feathers did was throw the crap into the air, as far as Elrick was concerned. But it wasn’t his job to do the cleaning, nor was he willing to lower himself to do it, even if he could do it better. Just a few more hours and his shift would end. He turned his attentions back to his laptop. ______________________________________________________ Miana slammed the door to Lamartha’s office, not caring who heard. She kept her eyes averted from everyone in the commons room and stormed back to the front, her slave station. Lamartha had dismissed her again. Of course everyone was short staffed. Miana knew that, but no one else had to be there 24/7 when Elrick refused to be there in the mornings or take weekend shifts. Miana yanked her hair back from her face. She really didn’t know how much more she could take. She was one person, often alone in a huge building with four crazies she struggled to keep stable, and it was more than anyone should put on a single being in her opinion. And it irked her to no end how Elrick acted like he was above her, that his studies gave him a get-out-of-jail free card any time he liked. She plunked down in the desk chair, its lopsided stuffing ingrained in her behind to where the ache stared almost immediately. She stared out the front doors, knowing no one would enter, feeling trapped more than ever. She couldn’t do anything without the absent Sourpuss RN telling her she could. Lamartha made it clear she had no intention to make golden boy Elrick take more shifts. She wondered if his skin color made Lamartha behave so gently with him in an effort to not be accused of nasty behavior. She’d been there so long now, she knew every inch of the place and item in it. She knew procedures and could do anything the others could. She knew more than Elrick and Ms. Sourpuss, as far as she was concerned. But obviously everyone just expected her to stay in her place, sweet meek little Miana. She was sick of being seen that way too. The ability to tolerate it weakened severely with each passing morning and weekend. And Lamartha made it clear there would be no changes made to bolster that ability. No one cared. Pretty soon, she’d make them care. She couldn’t afford to quit, but maybe if she regularly didn’t show up, they’d fire her. She had done everything to avoid that till now. But now she had a bit of a nest egg built up. A couple more weeks and it would be even larger. Just a couple more weeks…