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“Apparently.”
“That’s hard to do in the modern world.”
“No,” Ambrose said, “it’s not hard to do if no one is looking for you.”
Pallas thought about that. “Just as no one searched for Geddings. I see what you mean. You did say Brooke Kendrick was a loner.”
“Evidently no one except the apartment manager realized she was missing. Calvin is going to do a deep dive into Kendrick’s past to see if she ever reported an episode of transient global amnesia.”
Pallas caught her breath. “Regardless, we know she wound up at the Institute. Judging by that page that was torn out of a logbook, she had a bad reaction to whatever medication Fenner gave her. Fenner killed her.”
“Or Geddings. We can’t say for sure.”
“Regardless, Emery Geddings took care of the body and helped clean up the scene. But there was a witness. You.”
“Let’s face it, I’m a lousy witness,” Ambrose said. “All I saw was a laundry cart being wheeled down a hallway.”
“You saw blood on the floor.”
“Which Fenner will deny. Supposedly I was sleepwalking, remember? Dreaming.” Ambrose swirled the liqueur in his glass. His eyes burned. “What is going on at that sleep clinic?”
“We know what’s going on. Fenner is running experiments on people. The real question is why?”
“Maybe I’ll find some answers tomorrow when I take a look around his place.”
“I’ll go with you,” Pallas said.
Ambrose shook his head. “Not a good idea. This isn’t like the Geddings situation. It will be straight up B and E, the kind of stuff that can get you arrested.”
“We do this together. We’re partners. Besides, I’m the one with the talent for identifying hot spots, remember?”
Ambrose didn’t look pleased, but he didn’t argue. They sipped their drinks in silence for a while.
“Think you’ll go back into a partnership with Collier?” Ambrose asked eventually.
“From a professional standpoint it would be the smart thing to do,” Pallas said. “Theoretically I ought to be able to put the personal crap aside and focus on the opportunity. My career has been mostly on hold since Lucent Springs. I’m burning through my savings at a pretty fast clip.”
Ambrose watched her with a knowing look. “I sense hesitation.”
She smiled. “Did you come to that conclusion by analyzing my aura?”
“No aura reading necessary. It’s all there in your voice and your body language.”
“Yes, well, I wasn’t trying to hide my feelings. I am conflicted.”
“But leaning toward turning down the offer.”
“Yes,” she said. “The thing is, I really don’t think I can put the personal crap aside. I am going to be seriously annoyed every time I look at Theo. I can’t do my best work under those conditions. In addition, I am currently obsessed with finding out what happened to my friends and me in the Lucent Springs Hotel. On top of that, I want to find out what happened to you here in Carnelian. The bottom line is that I won’t be able to focus on restoring that old estate.”
“Just like I can’t focus on finishing my book.”
“I suppose so. Besides, it’s not as if Theo has changed his opinion of me. I can tell he still thinks I am at least semi-delusional. And there’s another issue.”
“What?”
Pallas set the empty glass down on the table. “I told you, I scare him.”
Ambrose nodded in understanding. “The same way I frightened Maureen.”
