“Oh,” Julie said, feigning umbrage. “So it took a simpleton to put it all together.”
“No, no, but you’re right. Okay, so he’s going along, maybe he hits a rock or a stick or something, and he figures it’s jammed into the blades. He has to stop the tractor, raise the housing, then get out and take a look. But as he’s getting off, or maybe when he was getting back on, he leans just a little too much toward the bottom of the hill, and tips the tractor on top of himself.”
If it still weren’t so tragic, I’d have had some pleasure finally putting it together. Or having it put together for me.
“That makes perfect sense,” I said, giving Julie a quick hug.
“What did you think had happened?”
“I was thinking he must have stopped because there was someone else there. Someone had walked down the side of the hill and waved to him or something, and he stopped, killed the ignition, and raised the housing. Like maybe he was going to stop and head back to the house. I’d been thinking, I don’t know, that someone was actually there and saw it happen, but didn’t tell anyone, or call the ambulance, or anything.”
Julie said, quietly, “Someone like Thomas.”
I sighed and briefly hung my head, feeling ashamed. “It had crossed my mind. That maybe he’d headed out of the house for some reason, wanted to talk to Dad, and there was an accident. God, I’m an idiot. Like there aren’t enough things to worry about, I have to invent more.”
“Maybe you’ve been doing the same thing with what you found on your father’s laptop. Lots of things have simple explanations. They just seem complicated when you don’t know what they are.”
I took Julie into my arms again and held on to her. “I know I keep saying this, but thanks.”
“Wait till you get my bill.” She put her head on my chest. “Listen, I should get back to the paper and write up a couple of things that have nothing to do with your and Thomas’s big international conspiracy. And then I’ll make those other calls, to Florida.”
“What should I do?”
“You know, honestly? Right now? Probably nothing. See what luck your lawyer has with Duckworth, and I’ll see what I find out, and you just stay here and make sure Thomas doesn’t see someone getting pushed off the Eiffel Tower or anything.”
“Don’t even joke. What about later? You want to come back?”
“Not for dinner. Your dinners suck. Why don’t I come out later, maybe around eleven? I’ve got to cover the evening session of the Promise Falls City Council. After I file my story, I’ll bring over a bottle of wine. We can try messing around again.”
“You really want to give that another shot?”
Julie smiled. “I thrive on danger.”
I walked her back to her car, gave her a kiss through the open window, and watched until her car had disappeared down the road. When I got upstairs, Thomas was exploring Stuttgart. I said, “I don’t know what the hell to make for dinner. I was thinking maybe bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.”
“I don’t care,” he said, his eyes focused on the monitor.
I got the bacon, lettuce, tomato, and some mayonnaise out of the fridge, and was just about to start frying up the bacon when I noticed we were down to one slice of bread and a heel.
“Nuts,” I said, and wondered whether there was a pizza place in Promise Falls that would deliver this far out.
That was when someone started banging on the front door.
“God,” I said under my breath. “Just don’t let it be the FBI again.”
FIFTY-ONE
LEWIS’S flight got in ahead of Nicole’s, which gave him time to arrange the rental of a white panel van. Two seats up front with an empty cargo bay. When Nicole got off the plane she said she needed to hit a Home Depot on the way. She couldn’t take ice picks on a plane, and had to buy them as she needed them. Lewis grabbed a roll of duct tape and some moving blankets.
They pulled up in front of the house. It was still daylight.
“So we’re just bringing him back,” Nicole said.
Lewis, behind the wheel, nodded at all the empty space behind them. “Yeah. My boss has some questions for him.”
Nicole nodded. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Finally, she said, “I know you’re not happy with how this went down.”
“No shit,” Lewis said.
“But once we bag this guy, take him back, that takes care of things,” she said.
“Hope so,” he said. “Depends on what kind of answers we get from him.”
Nicole glanced across the road to the house. “Either way, I’m done at that point.”
“Well, after he’s been questioned, we’re going to have to deal with him. This isn’t like when you’re fishing and do catch and release.”
Nicole shot him a look. “But after that, we’re square.”
“Sure,” Lewis said.