She and Tanner had talked a lot the night before. They’d lay in bed exchanging stories from their childhood and divulging things that seemed easier to share in the dark. They’d also made each other come several times before falling into something close to a sexually-induced coma.
Knox tapped a few keyboard keys and then pushed out of his leather chair. “Close the door.”
Tanner did so and then crossed to the black U-shaped executive desk that looked smart with the high-tech computer and multiple monitors. Maybe the room should have seemed dreary with the flint-gray walls, but the contemporary geometric rug, backlit glass shelves, and three abstract art canvases of mechanical clockwork gave the space a lift.
“Larkin found some info on Muriel that I think will interest you both.” His footsteps muffled by the rug, Knox skirted the desk and came to stand in front of them. “We’re still finding it difficult to locate Foreman, but it’s only a matter of time before we do.”
Whether they found him alive or dead was a whole other matter.
“Three months ago,” Knox began, “Muriel was attacked in her home by a human. According to the police report, he drugged her drink at a club, followed her home, and then broke into her place. He sexually assaulted her, the bastard.”
Levi squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck.”
“The drugs kept her close to paralyzed, but she was aware enough throughout the assault to give the police a thorough description of him,” Knox went on. “Two nights later, a male of that description was found dead in an alley. Someone sliced his dick off before stabbing him multiple times. The police questioned Muriel but later cleared her. Dale gave her an airtight alibi. But I believe one, the other, or both of them found and killed the human.”
“I don’t blame them.” Tanner wouldn’t have done anything less.
Knox pulled open a desk drawer, leafed through some papers, and then plucked out a single sheet. “Keenan found this in her dresser when he did a search of her apartment. It’s a letter from Harry. A letter begging for her forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness?” Tanner carefully took the sheet of paper. It was so badly crinkled it was hard to read the words, like someone had scrunched up and then reopened it again and again. He read the date. “He sent this a month before she was assaulted?”
“Yes.” Knox slipped his hands into his pockets. “According to Milton, Muriel told the staff that she snuck into Dale’s dorm one night after a nightmare, unaware of what would happen, and was then forced to vote. Going by what’s in that letter, it seems that she also received the most votes that night.”
Levi stiffened. “The boys offered up a little girl like a fucking sacrifice?”
“It would seem so. Worse, it wasn’t an isolated event. Mattias convinced her that the tutors used to go to all the dorms; he would tell her he’d heard rumors that they’d be going to her dorm that night and so she should stay with them. Sometimes she would, sometimes she wouldn’t.”
Tanner swore. “How could Dale not have made sure she didn’t believe that bullshit?”
Knox shrugged. “Maybe he tried, maybe he didn’t—there’s nothing in Harry’s letter that would suggest one way or the other. In any case, she was forced to vote on more than one occasion. And she was abused on more than one occasion.”
Tanner rubbed the back of his head. “Shit.”
“In the letter, Harry repeatedly mentioned ‘that night;’ said it haunted him. I’m not sure what he was referring to, only that something particularly bad seemed to have happened to her one night and it was what gave Harry the guts to—in a roundabout way—go to Milton for help. Apparently, Harry couldn’t shake off the guilt that he hadn’t gotten help sooner.”
Levi tilted his head. “But why would he contact Muriel after all this time?”
“The woman who Harry was seeing has a four-year-old daughter from another relationship. He told Muriel in the letter that each time the little girl smiled, hugged, or looked at him with trust, he felt like a fake. Said it killed him that she trusted him to protect her, because he didn’t feel that he deserved that trust. He was frightened that he’d fail to protect her just as he’d failed Muriel at Ramsbrook.”
“He was only a kid himself back then,” said Levi.
“Harry obviously didn’t think that meant anything, because ‘that night’ was something he couldn’t forgive himself for. He said he didn’t expect Muriel to forgive him either, but he hoped there might come a time when she could; he hoped that his apology might mean something.”
Tanner placed the letter back on the table. “So, this would have brought back all the memories for her; made them fresh in her heart and mind. And then she was sexually assaulted in her own home. During the attack, the past and present probably mingled in her mind; it would have left her feeling weak, small, and helpless all over again. Killing her attacker might have made her feel strong, restored her sense of control.”