“You can’t help it,” Sarah said, but she handed him a menu.
They spent the next few minutes poring over the menu, but in the end, they ordered a round of fish and chips for the table.
Right after they ordered, Caleb’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID and was surprised to see that it was a number he had just entered that afternoon: Floby’s cell.
He answered quickly, then excused himself and went outside.
“Where are you?” Floby asked him.
“At Hunky Harry’s,” Caleb said.
“Well, I just thought that you might want to know what I found out right away,” Floby told him. “I haven’t even spoken with Jamison yet. He hasn’t answered his page.”
Caleb didn’t reply to that. He didn’t know Jamison well, and he had never met his wife. It wasn’t his place to comment on what the lieutenant might or might not be doing that was keeping him from answering his phone.
“Thank you for calling me,” he said. “I’d love to know what you’ve come up with.”
“Here’s the strange thing. I think this girl was buried—and then dug up and thrown into the water.”
“What?” That was a twist on delayed immersion he’d certainly never thought of.
“She’s been dead five or six months. If she’d been in the water all that time, she’d have been chewed to ribbons. You saw the guy who died in his car, so you know what the fish can do to soft tissue. This girl…her organs have decayed as if she’s been dead for months, but there’s just no way in hell she could have been in the water that long. Come by tomorrow, if you can. You need to see what I’m seeing to fully understand.”
“Definitely. I’ll be there first thing,” Caleb said.
When he walked back inside, he could tell that the group had been talking about him again. Sarah had been right about the way they talked about people, even insiders, like Jamison. And they were probably worse when it came to outsiders.
“Anything new?” Will asked him as he took his seat again.
“No more bodies—I hope?” Renee asked.
“No, thankfully,” he said simply, looking up as he saw their waitress coming over with the food. “That was fast.”
The food was served. The fish was crispy and delicious, and Caleb realized he hadn’t known how hungry he was.
Renee suddenly put down her fork. “Maybe we should have had burgers,” she said.
“Why?” Barry asked her. “You love the fish and chips here.”
“No, I was just thinking that we’re eating fish, and fish eat everything in the water.”
They were all silent. She hadn’t said what she was really thinking.
That fish ate corpses in the water.
“Okay, that’s it, I’m done,” Sarah said, and rose.
“Will we see you tomorrow?” Barry asked her.
She shook her head. “I’ve been given permission to take a leave of absence for a few days, and I have a few things I need to do, so I’m taking this chance to do them. Who knows, though? I may stop by and check in on you working stiffs—”
She broke off, looking stricken.
Will groaned. “We can’t say anything these days, huh?” He stood up, too. “I’ll get the check, so just wait for me. You’re not walking home alone. And if anything more happens around here, you’re not staying in that place alone, no matter what,” he told her firmly.
“Thanks—Dad,” she said. “But I’m all right, and I’m not a fool. And you can sit back down. Caleb is going to walk me home.”
Will looked at Caleb, as if sizing him up for a moment. It was only natural, laudable even, that he should be worried. And when Will nodded approvingly, it felt good to see that although Will was the one who had called him a corpse magnet, the other man also seemed to trust him to take care of Sarah.
“All right,” Will said. “But take care and try not to be your usual ‘I can do anything myself, by myself,’ self, okay? Please.”
Sarah smiled and gave him a hug. “I promise. I will not go wandering alone in the dark, and I’ll lock my door the second Caleb leaves. I’ll double lock it. Trust me.”
She and Caleb tossed some money on the table, then left. Out on the street, he looked at her and said, “I’m breathless with anticipation.”
She laughed, and he was glad to see the humor in her eyes when she told him, “Sorry, but I’m not going to burst into your room looking for sex.” After she spoke, she flushed slightly. “Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Anyway, there’s a picture I need to show you. We can stand under that street lamp so you can see, and then I’ll explain everything I discovered today while we walk back to my place.”
She reached into her purse and handed him an old photograph in a frame.
It was amazing. He could have been looking at a picture of himself in costume.
“How did you do this?” he asked her.
“I didn’t do it!” she protested indignantly. “It was at the museum. It’s why Caroline and I thought we’d seen you before. It was part of a recent exhibit, so it must have stuck in our minds.”