Page 134 of The Black Orchid

“Patrick McGregor. That man’s a hero. He found me hiding—I was too scared to move. He hoisted me onto his bare shoulders, and we got back to my mom. He got us into one of the last life rafts.”

Trinity:

“Helen—Poppy—told us there was a moment when a small body bag was brought to land by a helicopter. She thought it was you.”

Carter:

“Sadly, there was one other child on theBlack Orchid. Marin Grant. I’d seen her when we boarded in Piraeus, but we never interacted on the ship—she was on one of the lower decks.” He pauses. For a moment he gazes out over the impossibly indigo-blue caldera, so peaceful on this day.

He turns back to the camera.

“She was the same age as me. She wasn’t as lucky.”

Trinity:

“It was a miracle that your grandfather arrived to save you from going overboard.”

Carter:

“He’d promised that he’d return to the suite at intermission to come get me, and we’d spy on Sorin’s show together. But I’d grown impatient. I’d just figured he wasn’t going to be true to his word—that he was going to let me down again—so I put on that Satyr mask and went on my own. But Grampswastrue to his word. He did leave the show and go the cabin. When he discovered I wasn’t there, he started looking for me on the deck outside the lounge theater, surmising I’d be trying to peek in on my own. He asked crew members if they’d seen a small boy, and one of them said he’d noticed a small Satyr creeping along the deck near the lifeboat station where Theo Pappas was vaping. He arrived as it was all going down. He saved my life, but it cost his. The exertion, the shock, was too much for his big old body.”

Trinity:

“Do you still plan on becoming a famous detective, Carter J. Frost?”

Carter:

He smiles.

“First school. Criminal justice, forensic psychology, neuroscience—those are all fields that still fascinate me. Perhaps there’ll ultimately bea place for me in law enforcement. Or maybe I’ll break new ground—like Gramps did—but in my own way.

“Or maybe I’ll write books one day, with sleuths like Harry the Spy.”

He grins broadly.

“Or Poppy Poirot.”