The next morning Duncan and Bernard, the couch sleeper with the very fine squirrel tail, helped Olivia clean up. Bernard was a hard worker and apologised repeatedly for the mess. He said it was the best party he’d been to in months, and he went to a new party most weekends. No one remembered inviting Bernard, or whose friend he was, but Olivia appreciated his help and gave him a yellow Japan Crate box of ramen as thanks when he left.
“That’s done then,” said Duncan, brushing the last of the Walker’s bright orange Cheezies dust powder off the counter. “Clean enough to eat off.”
“I’ll pass,” said Olivia. She could still recall the sound from outside as wet chunks of Derek splattered across the snow. Derek had been a big man with a surprising quantity of flesh, which had become especially apparent once he’d been spread across the yard. “I’m going to do one more pass. Hand me the bleach.”
Later, Shannon complained to Duncan the smell of bleach was making her ill.
“I think Olivia is working through some weird shit,” replied Duncan.
“We all are. Doesn’t mean she needs to give everyone hypothermia.”
Shannon had a point. To reduce the smell of bleach, half the windows in the house were open and it was getting progressively colder. If Olivia was going to have a breakdown, it would have been better in the summer when it was warm. But Duncan had made a promise to Greg, and Duncan was a very good boyfriend. He wasn’t going to let Greg down no matter how weird things got. “Give her a bit more time. I’ll talk to her when she’s done cleaning,” he said.
Shannon grunted and moved off to find a thicker sweater.
Duncan returned just after dark with a blue and white bag from a nearby Poke bowl restaurant. It would be days before the smell of cleaners dissipated enough to use the kitchen. Eating was going to get expensive. But at least the money which had been set aside for Derek could be used for food now. “Let’s take a break,” he said to Olivia. “I think it’s clean enough.”
Olivia knew Duncan was right. Derek had been killed outside. Scrubbing down the kitchen wasn’t going to make a difference at this point, but it gave her a goal and was certainly easier than trying to clean the snow covered back yard. With luck, nature would take care of that on its own by spring.
They were sitting in the sunroom, eating, when he asked her gently, “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you.”
“He didn’t lay a hand on me.”
“Good. He must have said something, though. Right? A guy like Derek, just…leaving? Without his money?”
“Maybe it was the Christmas spirit.” Olivia didn’t look up while she said it. She didn’t like lying to Duncan, but it was easier than trying to explain what did happen.
“A mystery, then.”
They ate for a time in silence.
“Which is why I want to find where he lived…lives,” Olivia corrected herself. She hadn’t spent the better part of the day just scrubbing the kitchen spotless, Olivia had been considering what to do. However impossible it seemed, something was happening to her, and both Slasher and Derek were somehow involved. Finding out what would be a challenge. She was doubtful Slasher was up for an interrogation, and even if the goblin would talk, she had no way of finding it. As for Derek, he had been turned inside out and spread across the yard like mulch. He wasn’t going to be talking. But at least Derek must have had an address. It wasn’t much to go on, but she had nothing else.
“Derek?” asked Duncan. “You want to find Derek? But you just got rid of him!”
Duncan thought this was a terrible idea.
“I know, silly right?”
“Olivia, leave well enough alone!”
“I can’t.”
“You don’t even know why he left. It’s weird, Olivia. Him coming here, and then just leaving. What if he changes his mind and decides he wants his money back?”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” she said. If Derek managed to come back from being turned into a Jackson Pollock painting, she would have much bigger problems than repaying the loan.
Derek wasn’t getting through to her. “Even if you wanted to, do you even know how to contact him? You said he didn’t believe in phones.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“This is a terrible idea.”
“I know, but it’s what I need to do.”
“Greg isn’t going to be happy about this.”
“It’s none of Greg’s business,” she said.
“Point taken,” said Duncan, duly chastised. It was good that she was standing up for herself, he just wished she wasn’t doing it now. “At least let me come with you.”
A Sneak, a Slayer, and a God 