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“Men don’t toss you aside, do they, Carly?” Eve glanced back at Michael. “That’s not allowed. Not tolerated. It was easy to plan it, really. Just step by step. And it was so beautifully tailored to suit. He would die right here, almost at your feet.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“You can have a team of them.” Eve stepped back, wandered to the evidence table, tapped a finger on the handle of the knife. “It was easy to get the knife out of the kitchen. Who notices a missing knife where there are so many? You knew the pace of the play, how much time between a change of sets. Even if someone saw you, it wouldn’t matter. You belonged here, like part of the scenery or an important prop. Slip the dummy knife up your sleeve, set the murder weapon down, and walk away.
“Was it hard to wait?” She turned the knife in her hand so that it caught the lights, shot glints. “To say your lines, to listen to others, while in your head you could see that last scene play, the way the knife would drive into him, the shock on his face, when he was finally punished for what he did to you.”
“It’s ridiculous, and you know it. You can’t prove any of it because it’s not true. You’re just going to end up looking like a fool.”
“I’ll risk it. Carly Landsdowne, you’re under arrest for the murders of Richard Draco and Linus Quim. You have the right to remain silent,” she continued as Peabody came out, moving toward Carly. “You have the right to an attorney and/or the representative of your choice. You have—”
“Get away from her!” The shout came as Peabody prepared to snap restraints over Carly’s wrist. “Don’t you dare touch her. She’s done nothing!”
Areena shoved Michael aside, rushed to the evidence table. Her face was wild with fury as she grabbed up the knife. “You won’t touch her. You won’t do this. Damn you to hell.”
She whirled on Eve. “She didn’t kill Richard. I did. I only wish I’d done it years ago, before he ever laid his filthy hands on her.”
“I know.” Eve walked to her, eyes locked, and took the harmless knife out of Areena’s hand. “I know it. Anja.”
“Anja? Oh God. My God.” Carly crossed her arms over her breasts, rocked.
“Peabody, move these people out of here. Carly, sit down. There’s a story you need to hear.”
“Let her go.” Areena’s voice was frantic as she ranged herself between Eve and Carly. “I’ll tell you everything. Haven’t you put her through enough? I waive my rights. I understand them and I waive them. Now let her go.”
“You.” Carly’s eyes seemed to burn in her face. “You and Richard.”
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
“You knew.” Bracing herself, Carly got to her feet. “You knew all along. And did nothing when he…”
“No. Oh, Carly, you can’t think that I’d have stood aside. Yes, I knew. When I saw you, when you were cast and I realized you were…who you were, I went to him. You’re so much what he coveted. Young and beautiful and fresh. I told him who you were so that he wouldn’t touch you in that way. That was my mistake.”
She closed her eyes, took the weight. “I’ll never know if he would have looked elsewhere for his pleasure. I thought I was protecting you, and instead…Instead, he seduced you, knowing it. Knowing it. You weren’t to blame. You were never to blame.”
“He knew.” Carly pressed a hand to her midriff. “You both knew.”
“When I found out what he’d done, what he was doing, I confronted him. We argued. Bitterly. I threatened him, threatened to expose him, to go to the press with the story. I couldn’t have, of course, I couldn’t have because of what it would do to you. He believed me, at least initially, and broke it off with you. He was cruel to you because he knew it would hurt me.”
“How did you know me?”
“Carly, I…” Areena trailed off, shook her head. “I never interfered with your life. I had no right to. But I was kept informed.”
“Why did you care?” Carly demanded. “I was nothing but your mistake.”
“No. No. You were a gift, one I couldn’t keep. I gave that gift to your parents because I knew they would cherish you. They would protect you. As I tried to,” she said wearily. “I would never have told you, Carly. Never. If there’d been a choice. But I can’t let them accuse you, can’t let them blame you for what I did.”
She turned back to Eve. “You had no right to put her through this.”
“We’ve all got a job to do.”
“Is that what you call this?” Carly gasped. “To find out which one of us exterminated a roach, and why. Well, you’ve done it. I wonder how you sleep at night. I want to go.” She began to weep. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to go.”
“Dr. Mira?”
“Yes.” Mira walked onto the set, slipped an arm around Carly. “Come now, Carly. Come with me.”
“I’m dead inside.”
