Jenny pushed Earl’s wheelchair past the chapel entrance. “This isn’t just another stalling tactic, is it?”

“Who, me?” Earl tried his most innocent look. Since he couldn’t turn his neck far enough, it was a wasted effort. “Like you said, with Candlewick closing, I have to find a new place to live.”

“You are going to call the sheriff though, right?” They reached the end of the hall and turned left.

“Sure, sure. Of course I will. Everything in its time.”

“I would hate to think you’re just putting it off.”

They came upon a couple of residents, an elderly man and woman dressed for tennis, carrying their rackets. The two were sharing a laugh. Earl nodded to them as they passed.

Once the two were out of earshot, he turned and said to Jenny, “Besides, how long could I stall?” They came upon a group of people headed the other direction, a man pushing a walker accompanied by a younger woman and three small children. Earl waited until they passed. Once they were gone, he turned his head again. “Fine. I’ll make the call. We just have to make this stop first.”

They reached the computer room without incident. The light coming through the windows must have created a glare on the monitor screens, because the blinds were almost closed.

Most of the stations were occupied. They headed for the lone open unit, and Jenny moved aside the chair and helped Earl roll his wheelchair into place.

Jenny said, “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course I know what I’m doing! I’m not some senile old man who needs to be put out on the trash heap.”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

“You’re forgiven.” Earl rubbed his hands together. “I guess you can tell me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“How do I use a computer?”

Jenny tried to offer him a disapproving look. But it soon collapsed into a grin. “All right, Mr. Walker. This is your monitor, this is your mouse, and this is your keyboard. You use the mouse like this to move your cursor—that’s the little arrow on your screen there, right?”

Earl grunted. “How do you look something up? This computer is connected to everything, right?”

A voice came from their left. “You can sign up for computer classes, you know.” The man at the next computer was an older gentleman in a snazzy golf shirt and shorts. He adjusted his black-framed glasses. “If you’re interested.”

“I don’t get out much,” Earl said. “I don’t really have a way to get to school.”

The woman on their right butted in. “Oh, they have all the classes right here at Candlewick—all about email, about desktop publishing, about—”

“You’re forgetting one vital, key piece of information,” Earl grumbled. “In a matter of days, this place will be closed down.”

The three stared back at him. Without another word, the man and the woman went back to their respective computers.

Jenny leaned in. “You don’t have to be so rude about it.”

“Who’s being rude? I was just stating the facts.”

“Well, there’s a better way to do it.” She wrinkled her nose. “Now, why are they closing this place again? It seems to have everything!”

“You’ll have to take that up with the state.” Earl pointed at the screen. “Now, how do I look for things?”

She sighed. “Okay, this program here is called your browser. It’s how you go to Web sites and blogs and things.”

“No need to get fancy.”

“Okay, this is your search engine. You type in what you’re looking for, and it finds all the different Web pages that have those same words in them. So, what should we look for— Let’s try ‘retirement living.’ And we need local results, so we’ll also add ‘Kentucky.’ ”

Jenny typed the words on the keyboard, and Earl saw the letters pop up in the search box. She hit the Return button, and a list of pages came up. “And here are the top results for your search.” She pointed at the screen. “You have thousands of results here.”

“That's so many. How do you know which ones to choose?”

“They’re ranked by popularity. So these top ones here are those sites that most people have visited. Do you want to go ahead and click through these top ones?”

“Let me try.” He rolled himself closer to the desk and reached for the keyboard.

“You want to make the search even more specific?”

“Something like that.” Using the hunt-and-peck method, Earl had to figure out the letters one at a time. He tried one combination of letters and then cautiously hit Return. The search engine came back with zero results. He squinted. “What does that say at the top there?”

Jenny looked close at the screen. “It’s asking if you mean ‘ethylene glycol.’ What is that, your medication?”

“Hardly. So how do I choose that spelling?”

“Just take your mouse and click there.”

Earl was a little shaky, but he finally got the little pointy thing to click on the blue line. A new page came up. He read the results then took the mouse and moved the cursor to the top result and clicked through. He allowed himself a grin. He could get the hang of this.

Jenny didn’t sound so sure. “What are you looking for?”

Earl was scanning the information on the screen. “Just trying to expand my knowledge.”

“But we’re supposed to be looking for a new home for you.”

“We will.” He studied the screen, frowning. “How do I go to a different page?”

She showed him how to click back to the results page and then click through to another page. “What, exactly, are you looking for?”

Earl squinted at the screen. “I’m not sure. How do I see this part at the bottom of the screen?”

“This is how you scroll.” She took the mouse and clicked the bar on the right of the screen.

“Stop right there.” He read for a few seconds then pointed at the screen. “How can I get a copy of this?”

Jenny instructed Earl to move his cursor up to his toolbar, choose Print, sort through his options, and send it to the printer.

“It comes out over there.”

Earl pulled away from his computer station to wheel himself over to the printer. He craned his head, trying to see under the printer. “How does this thing work?”

Jenny, puzzled, looked from the printer to the computer and back again. “I don’t know.”

A young woman in a smock and wearing a name tag approached them. “Can I help you folks?”

Jenny smiled. “We’re just waiting for a printout, thanks.”

Earl pointed and demanded, “How does this work?”

The lady looked at him uncertainly. “Is it not working again? I thought they had it fixed.”

“I’m asking how it works. What does it do?”

“Oh. Um, well, you send your information from your computer. You choose to print and—”

“Yes, yes, but once it gets sent here?”

“Well, the information gets sent here. It’s all digital. And the printer reads it and prints it out. I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“It’s like a copy machine, right? It uses fluid?”

“Oh. Um, sure, you can make copies with it, too. And it comes out—”

Earl reached and tried to open the lid. “How do you open this?”

“Sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea. When you open it while it’s in use, papers get jammed, and then you have to call for someone to fix it.”

“Where do you keep your copy machine fluid?” Earl looked around, saw a closet door. “Do you keep it in there?” He began wheeling himself toward the door.

“That door is locked at all times.”

“So, you have the fluid in there?”

“No. That’s where we keep supplies.”

“But not the copy machine fluid?”

“Um. No. Why are you asking about this?”

Jenny tried to apologize for him. “He’s new to computers and all this, so he’s very excited.”

“So only the repairman has the fluid?”

“Well, no, we can refill it. We keep the toner and the fluid up at the front office.”

Earl whirled his chair around. He grimaced. “But you keep it lying around sometimes, right? Maybe stacked in the corner or out in the hall?”

“No. Never. We don’t want anyone to trip over it.”

“Or steal it?”

The lady smiled nervously. “I didn’t say that.”

“But you have had a problem with someone stealing copy machine fluid.”

The woman’s face became sterner. “I have never heard of such a thing happening.”

“I see.” Earl’s shoulders sagged. He turned to Jenny. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Here’s your printout.” She pulled the sheet off the tray and handed it to Earl.

“Thank you.” He looked at it like it was bad news then folded it and stuck it in his shirt pocket. “Let’s get out of here.”

Out in the hall, Jenny asked, “What was all that about?”

“Nothing,” Earl grumbled.

“So, we’re heading back to your apartment to call the sheriff?”

“We have to stop by the office first.”

“Oh. You’re going to talk to Nelson again? Try to make him turn himself in?”

“Not exactly.”

Jenny and Earl did not speak again the whole walk to the Candlewick office. They passed various residents in the hall. As they reached the front office, they went through the glass doors and Earl wheeled himself up to the counter. The woman greeted him. “Sorry, sir, we’re locking up for the day.”

“This will just take a second.” Earl cleared his throat. “How does one go about borrowing office supplies?”

The woman’s smile wavered. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It’s a simple question. How difficult is it for someone to come in here and take some office supplies?”

“You can find all sorts of resources at our small business center.” She pointed toward the corridor behind them. “If you turn around and head—”

“We just came from there,” Earl cut in. “Actually, I was referring to the supplies found in that cabinet.” He pointed. “How does one—”

“That’s only accessed by office personnel.”

“Is it always locked?”

“Yes. Always.” The woman gave him a sour look. “I’m afraid you’ll have to use the facilities like everybody else. No exceptions.”

“I see.” Earl’s shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”

He turned for the exit. Out in the hall, Jenny asked, “What’s the matter, Mr. Walker? What’s this all about?”

“Just take me home.” The rest of the way back, Earl had nothing to say. They went through the common garden outside. The skies were overcast. On the way to his apartment, they passed some more residents. Jenny greeted each and every one of them.

Earl kept in his own little world. Even as they reached his apartment and they got inside, Earl was still unwilling to speak his dark thoughts. He was trying desperately to come up with another conclusion.

Jenny turned on the lamp by the couch and sat. Earl was hunched in his wheelchair. Staring, but not at anything in particular. She said, “Well, here we are.”

Earl didn’t reply. He silently pulled the sheet out of his shirt pocket and unfolded it. He stared at it.

“I guess you should go ahead and make that call now.”

He grunted. Then he looked up from his page, dazed. “What?”

“You promised to call the sheriff and report what you know.”

“Oh.” He nodded almost imperceptibly. The two sat in long silence. Finally Earl inhaled deeply and let it out in a resigned sigh. He reached for the phone and set it on his lap. He stared at it for long, wordless moments.

Then he reached for the end table and picked up a card that listed several emergency numbers. He found the entry for the sheriff and slowly pecked out the phone number. Receiver to his ear, he listened to it ring.

“I know you’re nervous, Mr. Walker. But you’re going to feel much better when it’s all over.”

He just nodded. His eyes seemed to be misting up. Finally, there was a voice on the other end. He took a deep breath before responding. “My name is Earl Walker, and I want to report a murder. I killed George Kent.”