City of the Lost (Rockton 1)

"We restrained her, Casey," one of the guys says. "I swear, that's all we did, and only because she was going to hurt herself."

I'm not sure Diana even hears him. She's sobbing against my shirt. Dalton tells the guys to leave, and they do. He takes a seat across the bedroom.

"Wh-what's going on?" Diana says after a minute.

I guide her back to bed. As I do, she sees Dalton.

"Why's he here?" she says.

"There's been a crime," I say. "The fire you can smell. I have to talk to you about what you remember, and he needs to be here."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your friend, and if I speak to you in an official capacity, there should be a witness."

"Then ask Will."

"Eric is my boss. Just talk to me. What do you remember?"

"Nothing. Not a fire. Not this blood. Not why someone pumped me full of--"

"What do you remember? The last thing?"

It takes her a couple of minutes. I wait as patiently as I can.

"I ... I went out ... No, that was..."

"Let's go back further. Dinner."

She smiles in relief. "That's easy. I had dinner with you, here."

"And I left at eight..." I prod.

Just after I left, Diana decided to go out and had an encounter with Jen.

"I swear, she lies in wait just to give me crap," Diana says. "Once, she actually complained that I brush my teeth too loudly. I really need to get another place or I'll be taking a stall in the stables just to get away from her."

She smiles, and all I can do is pray she's innocent ... or she'll be sleeping someplace worse than a stable stall.

After escaping Jen, Diana hung out with a few others, playing cards. At eleven, she headed home.

"And ... that's it. That's all I remember." She tugs at her earring as she thinks. "No, wait-- I heard something. I was walking along the road near the forest, and ... That is the last thing I remember. Someone must have come up behind me and knocked me out."

Beth appears at the door. I go out with her where Diana can't overhear.

"Diana thinks she was knocked unconscious," I say. "Were there any signs of that?"

She frames her response with care. "Knocking someone out isn't as easy as it seems in movies. There would be evidence on the skull."

"And there's not. Also, Kenny saw her walking into the shed."

She nods. "Which lends credence to another explanation for why she can't remember anything. One ... better supported by my examination."

"Which is?"

She pops her head back into the room and says, "I'm going to speak to Casey outside."

"No," Diana says. "If this is about me, say it here."