"He is," Ema admitted, busying herself with writing her name at the top of her sheet. "Actually, the last thing I remember from back home is waiting for him to arrive in court--Mr. Wright called him as a witness. But he's been around the investigation this entire time." And no wonder; Mr. Marshall's brother had been Darke's final victim, sacrificing his own life to save Ema. If Lana's trial was truly connected to the Joe Darke killings, then he had every reason to be as involved as possible.

If Ema had been purely objective during the whole time she and Mr. Wright had been working together, she probably could have figured the connection out herself even without Lana's explicitly saying so. Only a strong sense of denial--it was supposed to be over--had kept her blind to that fact. A mistake of perception, most definitely, but not an unreasonable one. And it was one that she was going to correct the instant she got home.

The gentleness of Lana's tone took Ema by surprise. Lana was worried about her, even now. What was left to protect her from? Her own memories? The connection between her trial and Joe Darke? The truth? No, Ema didn't want to be shielded from any of it--she wanted to know. She deserved to know. "I said I was going with you and I meant it. Are you going to pick me up from my room before you meet the detective tonight?"

As a silent concession to Lana's desire to play the game and not dwell on the topic too much longer, Ema started gathering the dice into the plastic cup.