Twenty-Six
Left alone in the bee yard, one of Beck’s panicky episodes had threatened, and he had hurried down to the lake, seeking the rinsing, purifying balms of wind and water. He was irrationally relieved the police weren’t looking for him, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. He had been momentarily curious about the purpose of their visit, but had pushed the interest away and meditated by the lake, purging bees from his brain. At last, feeling calm, he had ventured back to the house, and to his surprise his parents were there. They told him Marjorie was dead.
She was dead.
His father called 911, and insisted Beck accompany him and his mother to see what they had discovered in Marjorie’s house. Melissa seemed off, remote and troubled, but she kept a protective arm around a des
