Page 279 of Chameleon Killer

I hated him a little for that. Maybe more than a little. Opening my eyes, I met his gaze then picked up Brewster’s gun.

Simon watched me.

I stood on trembling legs. “Are you the Auditor?”

His eyes held mine. That faint smile touched his lips. “You named the pattern.”

“That isn't what I asked.”

“No.”

I almost screamed. Even now, he wanted to parse the language. “Simon.”

“Yes?”

“Are you the man responsible for the bodies I've been investigating?”

“Yes.” The word settled between us.

Fact. No narrative required.

“Did every one of them deserve to die?”

He paused for a full breath before he said, “No.”

My grip tightened. I hadn't expected that. Maybe I'd wanted him to tell me they were all monsters. “Why?”

“Because,” he said slowly. “Deserving indicates judgment. Death is a fact.”

“That's bullshit.” Seriously.

“Probably.” The fact he agreed with me, almost ruefully, didn’t help.

I stared at him. “Did you kill innocent people?”

“Yes.”

Pain opened somewhere beneath my ribs. “How many?”

“More than I can justify to you.”

“To me?”

“Or to myself.”

I wanted to hate him. It would have made everything so much easier. “But you saved me.”

“Yes.”

“You manipulated me.”

“Yes.”

“You killed Elliot.”

“Yes.”

“To save me?”