@@@@@ Pam who was no longer in Florida, but who 670
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Pam who was no longer in Florida, but who might be
lying dead on her kitchen floor, with Tom Riley
next to her, just as deadThis vision was so
clear I could see blood on the cabinets, and on
the knife in Tom's stiffening handthe next would kick
the answering machine into lifeShe sounded breathless"Jesus Christ, is it actually
you? Answer me!"
"Edgar? Who told you?" She sounded totally
bewildered
That was a Pam-voice I knew: slightly foggy, the
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way she sounded when she had a cold, or when she
was
"Pam, are you crying?" And then, belatedly: "Told
me what?"
"About Tom Riley," she said"I thought you might
be his brotherOr - please, God, no - his
mother
"What about Tom?"
"He was fine on the trip back," she said,
"laughing and showing off his new sketch, playing
cards in the back of the plane with Kamen and some
of the others Now she did start to cry, big sobs
like static, her words coming in betweenIt was
an ugly sound, but it was also beautifulBecause
it was aliveAnd then, tonight, he
killed himselfThe papers will probably call it
an accident, but it was suicideThat's what Bozie
saysBozie has a friend on the cops who called
and told him, and then he called meTom drove
into a retaining wall at seventy miles an hour or
moreThis was on Route 23, which
means he was probably on his way here
I understood everything, and I didn't need any
phantom arm to tell me, eitherThere was
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something Perse wanted, because she was angry with
meOnly Tom had had a moment of
sanity - a moment of courage - and had taken a
quick detour into a concrete cliff
Wireman was making crazy what's-going-on gestures
in front of my faceI turned away from him
"Panda, he saved your
