And for the first time since that hospital room, the certainty drained out of his face and left something else in its place — not guilt this time, but confusion, real and total, the look of a man watching his own tidy explanation come apart in his hands.

“Call him,” I said.

“Call Fabian?” “Right now.

On speaker.”

Chapter 11 — Call Him

With shaking hands he dialed, and Fabian answered on the third ring.