I set out into the snowfall. My head is spinning. So, it was a cover-up. Everyone agreed to it. They must’ve. They were threatened by the Cadaverinis. Even him? Even him. It must’ve been like that. You don’t mess with the mob, even when you’re him. He was probably trying to protect the people he cared for. Right?

Right…?

How am I supposed to find the truth now?

What am I supposed to do, if even you weren’t incorruptible?

My phone rings. It’s Trucy.

“Hey.” I say. “I’m just—”

“Listen to me very carefully now.” The tone is unflinching. Cold. Emotionless. She’s dead serious. Or scared. Or both. “I just got off the phone with Dick Gumshoe. He was the detective in charge of the case, right?”

“Ri—”

“Right. So, listen. The whole transcript—”

“Was a lie. By the Cadaverinis. I know people were threatened. I guess he wasn’t an exc—”

“Okay. Good. Good. But listen. There’s something more important, right? Gumshoe’s living on the east coast now. He’s with his wife and two children.”

“Aw. That’s ni—”

“Just listen, dumbass! His wife was accused of murdering Glen Elg. Daddy got her off. Two retrials. Furio Tigre. The whole shtick. She was blackmailed, too. Hell, the only person they probably didn’t get was Armstrong, and that’s only because he high-tailed it to France. Hm, that’s probably why they painted him the way they did in the fake files, as some kind of— Anyway—”

“I don’t understand what you’re telling me.”

“GUMSHOE is married to MAGGEY GUMSHOE, formerly known as MAGGEY BYRDE. They have been living together on the east coast for the past EIGHT YEARS, ever since the explosion!”

“But—” My hand trembles. “But then, who—?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, but she’s not in her room, and the window’s wide open.”

I hang up.

Okay, then.

Enough is enough.