Chapter 20: Solano's Evidence Refuses a Simple Verdict

She did not announce herself.

She walked back through the galley and into the dining car with her notebook open and her portable spectrometer's output folded inside it, and she did not ask the room's permission or wait for anyone to invite her to speak. She simply stood where Blackwell had stood and set the notebook on the table and looked at it for a moment, which was the only preparation she allowed herself.

The room was still reconfiguring. Falk had not sat back down. The man in the blue cardigan — she had identified him three hours ago from the supplemental index in Vásken's folder, Werner Holt, whose son had been seventeen — was standing at the rear of the car with his back partly turned, and she could see from the set of his shoulders that he was doing the work of remaining present. Crowe had retreated to the far end of a bench seat and was examining his own hands with the focused attention of someone reading scripture. Rielle had her photograph face-down on the table in front of her still. The nurse had moved one seat closer to Rielle without appearing to have done so consciously.