Her perfectly manicured brows shoot up. “If you can imagine any circumstance where Phil gossips about residents, then your imagination far outstrips my own.”
“I don’t mean gossip. I mean has he said anything that suggests he knows residents’ backgrounds?”
“Ah, so you don’t know whether he even has that information.”
“He does in some cases. I’m not sure that extends to everyone.”
“Then I would suggest you ask him, rather than place his lover in a very awkward position. You don’t trust him to give a straight answer. He will, Casey. I will also answer the question because I can say, without hesitation, that he is one of the most circumspect people I know. I suspect he knows most of the backstories, but he hasn’t so much as suggested he knows mine. He will not be your leak. Nor am I.”
“But someone else could have found Mick’s notes and figured it out.”
“Who? The only person still here from those days is Mathias.”
“He’s next on my list but, yes, I know I’m grasping at straws.”
“We both realize this is a waste of time, right?” Isabel says.
“Because Will’s the only person still in Rockton from Eric’s list? No one else is in danger, which makes my investigation smell like revenge, rather than preventive policing.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean. We know who did this, Casey. Who’s behind it, at least.”
I lift my pen from the notebook.
“You don’t want to seem paranoid,” she says. “But in this case someone really is out to get us. We’ve established that.”
I set down my pen and exhale. “You think the council is behind the leak.”
“If you tell me you haven’t considered this, I’ll be insulted that you think I’d buy such nonsense. Also insulted that you don’t trust me enough to discuss it, but the wound to my intelligence always stings more.”
“Yes, we’ve considered it. Obviously. And yes, it feels paranoid.”
“So you’re eliminating the obvious suspect to avoid seeming paranoid?”
“The council may be the ultimate source of the leak, but they didn’t write that sign. I need to find out who did that and then see whether it leads to the council.”
“It will.”
When I don’t answer, she fixes me with a look. “Really, Casey? The council has realized you know we’re shutting down, even if they’re pretending it’s temporary attrition. They’ve tipped their hand, and they need to hurry this along. What better way to do that than to undermine Eric’s authority by disbanding the police force?”
“All the more reason for me to find who is behind this.”
“Whoever wrote that sign is getting their information directly from the council. There’s no point tracking down potential sources in Rockton.” Her eyes narrow. “Which you knew. This was about getting me to independently voice your own theory. Making sure you weren’t being paranoid.”
“You’d make an excellent detective, Iz.”
She mouths a profanity at me. Then she settles back in her seat. “I suppose I should be flattered that you value my intelligence so highly.”
“I do. Also, it’d seem very odd if I didn’t question you first, you being the keeper of secrets.”
She snorts. “That’d be Mathias. I am but a student of the master.”
“That’s why he’s next on my list.” I close my notebook. “I also do need to keep other sources in mind, in case the council isn’t behind this. Imagine if I blamed them, and it turned out that the actual culprit was someone who found Mick’s notes?”
“Understood. Eliminate the obvious first. Ultimately, though, since anyone could have found those hypothetical notes, it doesn’t narrow down your search.”
I smile. “But it does give me an excuse for questioning anyone I like, without the council realizing I’m looking for their spy.”
* * *
A council spy. That should make it easy. They have three in town that we’ve already identified. The problem is that all three were in that meeting with us earlier: Mathias, Petra, and Anders himself.
Dalton flipped them long ago, though he’d say it was the town that flipped them. They came here promising to keep an eye on the sheriff, only to realize the true threat to Rockton is the council.
Even if I didn’t trust their loyalty, I can’t imagine any of them being behind this. Anders certainly didn’t expose his own crime. Petra’s true allegiance is to her grandmother, who is firmly against Rockton’s closure.
Mathias is always the wild card in any situation. The one least wedded to our cause. Still, he wouldn’t do anything as gauche as post a sign in the square, nor as ignorant as those mental-illness insults.
So who is the spy? Whoever wrote that sign, and that’s the way I need to approach this investigation. Find out who posted the sign.
* * *
I let Phil handle the council. One of their residents has been identified as a killer, and they must be notified. Phil is better equipped to handle this, because he knows the council lets in less-than-innocent residents.
They tell Phil to convey the message that Anders’s skill set outweighed any other concerns.
The council isn’t happy that Anders admitted to his crime. They wish they’d been consulted first. As for what should be done about it, they aren’t demanding his head on a platter. Or his ass on a plane. They will reserve judgment and see how we handle this unfolding situation. They hope we can win back our residents’ trust.
We have twenty-four hours.
* * *
I spend the day chasing leads while watching the portcullis slowly close in front of me. At first, people come forward—those who support Anders and want us to find the perpetrator. They tell me who they saw out last night, who has a grudge against Anders, who has expressed far too much interest in resident backstories.
But I’m not the only one making the rounds. So are Conrad and Jolene, who seem to have teamed up as the opposition. They’ve brought in others, too, like-minded individuals who just want to see justice done and clean up a corrupt system. Bullshit. Mathias is dead right here, at least for Conrad and Jolene. They’re in this for their own petty reasons, and the attention they’re garnering doesn’t help.
If you’re slavering to bring down a popular guy, it follows that you envy his popularity. If bringing him down also means building yourself up? Win-win.
While Dalton and Kenny and Jen canvass for potential leads, Team Conrad-and-Jolene are getting the word out—the word being that if you’re helping my investigation, you must want the whistleblower caught before they expose your secrets.
Jen’s suggestion to lock them in the cell becomes increasingly tempting. Yet it would only suggest we’re silencing protest. Normally, we could at least find ways to stop them from interfering with my investigation. That doesn’t work when the person under threat is one of our own. Without the option of bringing in outside investigators, I spend my day racing against time, speaking to as many people as I can before they decide to stop talking.
* * *