[Here by accident? You might want to first read what came before: Introduction, Chapter 1: The Finding, and Chapter 2: Kali.]
Gabe knew, by now, he had little chance of returning productively to the darkroom for the rest of the afternoon and evening. He was a little hungry, not remotely famished (and not at all sure he saw the point in eating, maybe ever again). But he told the Lanes of a WorldKitchen a few blocks away which offered good delivery service; it specialized in Kazakh and Samoan cuisines, as well as the rest of the chain’s full menu. If they wanted, they should feel free to order something and have it brought here, on Gabe’s tab. (Later, he’d think how funny that must have sounded — offering to pay a fast-food check for Matthew freaking Burghar‘s daughter and son-in-law.)
Then, on the pretext of cleaning up some chemicals he’d left open, he went downstairs to the basement and into the darkroom. There he switched on the safelight, extinguished the overhead CCFLs, and sat on the stool in the murky half-light to gather his thoughts.
By the time the doorbell rang — the WorldKitchen delivery — he’d returned upstairs, made vague, forgettable small talk with the Lanes, and sharpened his questions. The tins of darkroom chemicals downstairs remained open.
—-
