Chapter 17 Summary

Stuttering, the courier asks Kay to sign as she flashes through scenes from the murders. She confuses him by asking him to open her suitcase so she can verify the contents, hits him in the throat with the clipboard, and runs. She sprays him in the face with the fire extinguisher and smashes him with a cast iron skillet, but it scarcely slows him. Fleeing to the front door, she digs out her Ruger, jams in two cartridges, and fires. Kay falls apart, wailing.

Kay stays away from her office until Frankie's body is released and his blood washed away. She is sorry not that she kills him—but that he was ever born. Kay has a mountain of paperwork on her desk. Pete says that Frankie had been delivering lost bags for months. While his car is broken, he works for...