"We got absolutely nowhere," Scotty sighed, flopping back in his chair.
"Well, Madeleine's information on Mr. March was very…" Lilly tried.
Scotty cut her off. "He's dead."
"Well, maybe it wasn't Mr. March at all," Lilly tried. "It could have been anybody!"
"Oh, come on, Lil," Scotty groaned. "He sexually abused those little girls for eight months. He played strangulation games with them. And when did he stop?"
Lilly tensed. "May. Okay, I'll give you that, but maybe, just maybe it scared him into stopping."
"Why would anyone do that anyway? I just can't imagine looking at a little kid and…"
Lilly chewed on her bottom lip and shrugged. "Let's go see Marjorie," she said quietly.
"Oh. You again," Marjorie said coldly, hands on her hips.
"Is now a better time?" Lilly asked.
"I suppose," Marjorie said snobbishly. "I just can't imagine why you would want to reopen a so obviously cut and dried case." She flipped her hair out of her face.
"Marjorie, you were in Mr. March's 'after-school exercise group'," Lilly said. Marjorie visibly stiffened.
"And we know what that 'exercise group' was," Scotty added.
Marjorie looked lost. "No you don't," she said.
Oh Marjorie, Lilly thought. I do understand. I'm so sorry.
"Marjorie, we only want to help you," she said softly.
"You're never going to help me," Marjorie hissed. "You don't understand and you never will. I know hall about your type of people. You pretend to know what people are going through so they'll talk to you. In all honesty, you don't know squat."
There seemed to be a stick of dynamite inside of Lilly that was threatening combustion. "Marjorie, I can't read your mind and you sure as hell can't read mine. Don't you ever, ever say that I don't know what it feels like to go through what you have because I do, I do, and I really understand and if you'd just tell me, we'd be able to help you. We can't fix it, though we'd love to, but we can give you some peace of mind." Marjorie blinked. Scotty looked at his partner in disbelief.
"I…was the boss of the exercise group," Marjorie said slowly. "When he was…done…with us, I handed out candy."
Lilly unclenched her fists and sat on a nearby chair. "He gave you candy? To keep you quiet?"
Marjorie nodded. "It was only a game," she said softly.
"What was?" Scotty asked.
"Grace and I were only pretending. It was just make-believe. We didn't mean to…"
"Didn't mean to do what, Marjorie?" Lilly asked gently.
"Nothing," Marjorie said briskly. "Now, why are you still here? Please don't come back again."
"I heard about your blowout," Stillman told Lilly when she and Scotty returned to the office. "Are you okay? Vera or Jeffries could…"
"I'm fine," Lilly said calmly. "I don't need anyone to take over my position." She looked up and saw the gentle concern in Stillman's expression. "Really. It just…struck a chord. Sorry. It won't happen again." Lilly returned to poring over Claire's autopsy report.
Stillman watched her for a moment then said, "You should go home. The files aren't going to move. Get some rest and come back in the morning."
A/N: In Chapter Three…a not-so-revealing flashback to 1963! What didn't Grace and Marjorie mean to do? (dun dun dun,. I know and yo-ou don't!) Will Lilly crack?