Chapter 96

  YUKI KEPT HER HAND gripped around the gun in her pocket as she walked beside Twilly up the path through the woods. He did most of the talking, asking her opinion of the jury, of the defense¹ counsel, of the verdict. For a moment she saw the charming man she’d been attracted to a few weeks ago - then she remembered who he really was.

  “I think the verdict was completely off the wall,” Yuki said. “I don’t know what I could have done differently.”

  “Not your fault, Yuki. Junie is innocent,” Twilly said amiably².

  “Really? And you know she’s innocent how?”

  They’d reached the ridgeline, where a rocky outcropping overlooked the best view of Kelham Beach and the Pacific Ocean. Twilly sat down on the rock, and Yuki sat a few feet away. Twilly opened his bag, took out two bottles of water, twisted off the cap of the first and handed the bottle to Yuki.

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that there was no trace evidence at the so-called crime scene?” he asked her.

  “Strange, but not impossible,” Yuki said, taking a deep chug-a-lug from the water bottle.

  “That information that the police ‘developed.’ That was an anonymous³ caller, right?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I was writing a book about Michael, Yuki. I followed him all the time. I followed Michael to Junie’s house that night. After Michael went into Junie’s house, I felt great. Michael Campion spent time with a hooker! Good meat for my story. I waited, and then I saw him leave - alive.

  “Of course, I didn’t know he’d never be seen again.”

  “Hmmm?” Yuki said.

  She’d come here to hear Twilly tell her who’d killed Michael or confess that he was the one who had done it - but suddenly she felt as though there was plastic foam⁴ inside her head.

  What was happening?

  Shapes shifted in front of her eyes, and Twilly’s voice ballooned out of his mouth, volume rising and falling. What was that? What was Twilly saying?

  “Are you okay?” he asked her. “Because you don’t look so good.”

  “I’m fine,” Yuki said. She was nearly overcome with dizziness and nausea⁵. She gripped the rock she was sitting on with both hands, held on tight.

  She had a gun!

  What time was it?

  Wasn’t she supposed to keep track of the time?

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

4 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

5 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。