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“And what about Alicia’s father? Vernon? What was he like?”
“Vernon didn’t really talk much. He wasn’t right in the head—not after Eva died. He was never the same after that. Neither was Alicia, come to that.”
“That reminds me. There was something I wanted to ask you—something Tanya mentioned to me.” “Tanya Berenson? You spoke to her?”
“Only briefly. She suggested I talk to you.”
“Tanya did?” Paul’s cheeks colored. “I—I don’t know her well, but she’s always been very kind
to me. She’s a good, very good person. She visited me and Mum a couple of times.” A smile appeared on Paul’s lips and he looked far away for a moment.
He has a crush on her, I thought. I wondered how Max felt about that.
“What did Tanya say?” he asked.
“She suggested I ask you about something—that happened the night after the car accident. She
didn’t go into detail.”
“Yes, I know what she means—I told her during the trial. I asked her not tell to anyone.”
“She didn’t tell me. It’s up to you to tell me. If you wish to. Of course, if you don’t want to...” Paul drained his pint and shrugged. “It’s probably nothing, but—it might help you understand
Alicia. She...” He hesitated and fell silent. “Go on.”
“Alicia ... the first thing Alicia did, when she got home from the hospital—they kept her in for a night after the crash—was she climbed up onto the roof of the house. I did too. We sat up there all night, pretty much. We used to go there all the time, Alicia and me. It was our secret place.”
“On the roof?”
Paul hesitated. He looked at me for a second, deliberating. He made a decision. “Come on.” He stood up. “I’ll show you.”