The Night Visitor by Dianne Emley Page A

shot Junior.”
    “That happened five years ago, Sylvia. Right now, we’re dealing with what happened last Saturday night between Richard Tate and Danny.”
    Sylvia patted her lap and the dog leaped onto it. “It’s all tied together, Henry. Danny tried to get Rory to tell the truth about what happened at Five Points. Now he’s dead. Rory’s always claimed that she was home alone that night. The only other person who knows she was actually at Five Points is Junior and he’ll never have a chance to tell his side of the story.”
    Auburn turned up his palm. “Sometimes life sucks.”
    She looked hard at him. “Henry, don’t tell me that you absolutely believe the official story about Five Points. That Junior killed Anya and shot himself.”
    He blinked his tired eyes. “Officially the case is closed.”
    “Thank you, Henry. That tells me what I want to know. It’s not closed for you either. Not in your heart.” She eagerly looked at him, waiting for him to respond.

    Auburn scratched his fingers through his moustache several times. “Sylvia, what can you tell me about Danny believing that he was communicating telepathically with Junior?”
    “Who told you that?”
    “Doesn’t matter who told me. Did Danny talk to you about it?”
    She frowned and pulled her lips to the side. “My mom forced it out of him when Danny started to go downhill. He stopped caring about everything except staying locked up in his room and spending time with Junior. He lost weight. Looked bad. He said that he and Junior had found a pathway where they could communicate, like tuning to a different wavelength on the radio. He said being with Junior like that was the best thing he’d experienced, this total connection to another person. Said it was like living times two. What he saw, heard, felt — it was all twice as intense.”
    The dog licked Sylvia’s cheek. She maneuvered him until he was lying across her thighs. “Henry, I want to be clear about one thing. No one in this family knew that Danny was planning to attack Rory.”
    “I know.” Auburn studied her. “Did Danny say that Junior gave him information about the Five Points shootings?”
    “Junior always showed him the same thing. Junior came home, found his doves loose inside his loft, and tried to get them out. He slipped on blood. He saw Anya dead, and then he was falling. Then darkness.”
    After a pause, Auburn asked, “Did Danny say who did the shooting?”
    “No. He said that Junior didn’t see who it was. He said it wasn’t always easy to figure out what Junior was trying to tell him.”

    Something clicked for Sylvia. “That’s how the shootings really happened, isn’t it? I could tell by the look on your face when I mentioned the doves. Danny knew details that weren’t public, didn’t he? Henry, after all we’ve been through over the past five years, please level with me.”
    “Yes, you’ve described things that weren’t released to the public.”
    “Oh…I get it. You’re thinking that Danny did it.” She hugged the dog close. “That night Danny went to a party with his buddy. The buddy disappeared with some girl and lost track of Danny. Danny came home late. Said he’d gone to the beach with some people he’d met. But you couldn’t ever find those people. You gave Danny a hard time about that. Henry, I’ll never believe it. Danny idolized Junior. It was Rory. She shot her sister and Junior.”
    Auburn reached into his jacket pocket, took out several photos, and handed them to her.
    Sylvia brushed the dog onto the ground. Her disgust grew as she looked through the photos. She tossed them onto the table. “You could have told me that you went to see Junior. This family still has some rights, don’t we?”
    “I haven’t seen Junior in five years,” Auburn said.
    Sylvia snatched back the photos. They showed three large wounds on someone’s back. “Then who took these? Someone at the hospital? The same person who’s been talking about my