He sighed and slumped back in the chair. "I can't recall. There might have been one or several Fredericks in my year. I just..."
"Can't recall." I sighed too. "It would seem you spent more time with your head in the clouds before you died than after."
He cocked his head to the side and gave me a withering look. "Very funny."
Adelaide and George hadn't been exaggerating when they said Jacob never noticed people. I was only now beginning to believe it.
"If I could have my life over again," he said, serious, "I would speak to everyone I ever met. Every single person. I'd stop people in the street and ask them how their day was."
"You would get some very strange looks." I tried to make light of the situation but it was no joke. It was obvious Jacob regretted what he'd been like when he was alive. It made me think about everything I wanted to change about myself. I made a mental note to give Celia a hug in the morning.
"Do you think Frederick killed you because he thought you were avoiding him?" I shook my head at the absurdity. "Not only is it a big leap but it also doesn't make sense. If he wanted to be your friend, then why would he kill you? He could never be your friend then." I drummed my fingers on my knee as another thought occurred to me. "Or perhaps there was some other reason he wanted to see you. Could you have owed him a debt?"
"How could I owe a debt to someone I didn't know? No, my death was certainly related to the fact he thought I was avoiding him."
I frowned at him. He looked away. "How do you know?" I hedged.
He shrugged one shoulder. "I just do."
"Jacob, what aren't you telling me? What do you know?"
"Nothing. Just leave it be. Accept that I'm almost certain Frederick the boy from Oxford is somehow relevant to my death."
"You mean he killed you."
"No. I think he had something to do with my death, but didn't commit the act himself."
I put my hands up, stopping his convoluted riddles. "If you don't know who killed you, how can you discount Frederick from the list of suspects? He sounds like the most likely one to me."
Jacob scratched his head, making his hair stick out at odd angles. "I can't tell you why I know he didn't do it, I just do."
"You can tell me, you just don't want to."
That cynical smile again. "Thank you for clarifying."
I climbed off the bed and crouched in front of him, touching his knees. "Jacob, you have to tell me everything. I need to know what you know."