Page 21 of 2 Sisters Murder Investigations

“But they wouldn’t kill me. That’s ridiculous. That kind of stuff only happens in movies.”

“Who are we talking about?”

Arthur glanced out the window at his side yard and the fenced houses beyond. “Almost every house around here has been bought by a company called Enorme,” he said.

“Enorme?” Baby said. “Who are they?”

“Some megacorporation.” He shrugged. “You know the type. All the executives have their own yachts.”

“But what do they do?”

Arthur shrugged again. Baby took out her phone and googled, saw all that she needed to see. Sprawling tech communities. Cinematic aerial shots of factories the size of football fields. Glossy investor videos with beautiful happy people in suits.

“They own pretty much the whole block,” Arthur said. “That’s why those other houses are fenced off and boarded up. They’re prepped for demolition. Enorme’s gonna put one of their factories here. Or a skyscraper or ... I don’t know. I didn’t read the paperwork.”

“But they don’t own your place?”

“No.”

“You’re the last holdout.” Baby sat back in her chair, felt a flower of dread blossom in her chest. “They’re heavying you to sell.”

“They’re heavying me.” Arthur nodded and put his hands on the table with his withered palms up. “But it’s like I told my wife, Carol: When you got a bully after you, you just hunker down and carry on and wait for them to get bored.”

“Or,” Baby said, “you fight back.”

“I’m too old to fight back.”

“These Enorme people — did they throw money at you?”

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t you take it?”

“What am I gonna do with the money?” Arthur looked around. “Everything I want is right here. Except Carol. And money can’t bring her back.”

“How did Carol die?”

“Heart attack,” Arthur said. “Start of the year. It happened in the kitchen.”

Baby stiffened. The old man flapped an impatient hand.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He sighed. “But you’re wrong. She didn’t get shocked by anything. She was sitting right where you’re sitting now, at the table. I saw it. She grabbed her arm suddenly and fell on the floor. Didn’t say a word. She had diabetes. And heart problems.”

“She did?”

“Yeah,” he said. “She must have forgotten to take her heart medicine or ... ” He trailed off.

Baby raised an eyebrow. “Did she tend to forget things like that? Was she a forgetful person?”

Arthur didn’t answer.

“So you called 911, right?” Baby said.

“Yeah. Of course. Immediately.”

“And what happened?”

“Carol was eighty, okay?” Arthur’s hands were shaking. He tried to disguise it, but Baby could see the tremors. “They didn’t do an autopsy. And the EMTs, they took all her medications with them. So if there’s something hinky about all this, like you’re trying to suggest ... ”

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