Pete jerked his head at me. “Thank him. He’s the one who yelled and got us over there. Boyce is a strong man, but Clarisse is a strong woman, and after she stuck that knife in his shoulder, it was bound to slow him down.” He shrugged. “She just might have won the fight.”
“I’ve been wondering how she knew where to find Hooth and Ianna,” Martin said.
“Easy,” I replied. “Remember, Boyce said that several of his friends had been over there with him. It’s a cinch that his wife would have gone with him from time to time, especially once she decided to kill his Erintie friends.”
“But she didn’t kill Benait when he was asleep,” Martin pointed out.
Pete said, “She picked up Benait, telling him that Boyce wanted to see him. Once she got him into the back seat of her car, she pulled out the gun and shot him. We found traces of his blood under the back seat. She pulled a similar stunt with Wheelau, actually taking him from the meadow to the gym, killing him in route. She figured that since the dumpsters were dumped automatically, no one would ever see the body. It would simply seem that he had disappeared.”
“How’s Boyce holding up?” Martin asked.
“He’s pretty depressed. He lost everyone he cares most for, all in the same week.”
“What was he doing out there, anyway?” I asked.
“Same thing we were,” Pete answered. “Guarding the Erintie. He left work and went directly over there. He was up on the hillside above you, Victor, but not even the Erintie knew he was there. He was determined to be their guardian angel.” He shook his head sadly. “It really took it out of him to find out it was Clarisse.”
“Jealousy makes people do some weird things,” Martin said.
“And xenophobia,” Pete added.
“What’s that?” Martin asked.
“Fear of aliens,” I supplied.
Martin raised one eyebrow. “I may be a lot of things, some good, and some bad, but I’m not afraid of aliens.” He grinned. “That’s not to say I agree with what they eat, mind you.”
“Hey!” I protested. “If I didn’t eat at the dump, we might never have found Wheelau’s body.”
Pete see-sawed a hand. “A mixed blessing, fella. I still smell that place in my dreams.”
“Kind of makes you hungry, doesn’t it?” I teased.
Pete’s face soured. “Hungry? Whew! Victor, the smell of that place just about curdled my innards.”
Martin couldn’t resist. He gave me a wicked grin. “Victor, you’re always telling us how smart you are. You really blew it this time. If you’d fingered Clarisse earlier, it would have saved a lot of trouble.”
I fell right into the trap. “But I didn’t know—”
Martin eyed Pete, smirking. “Just goes to show you, garbage in, garbage out…”