“Yet you believe I may have ‘silenced’ her, to use the vernacular. Very 007 of me. I am flattered. You will notice that I am not, however, mocking the underlying suggestion—that someone could have kidnapped Nicole at the council’s behest. I do not say they would. I do not say they would not. I will only admit this—if I believe a good person represents a small risk of exposure, I see no need to trouble the council with my thoughts.”
“Have they ever suggested they’ve acted on your reports? To squelch threats?”
“If they did, I would stop giving any reports. And possibly relocate to the forest. As for what I report, I keep copies. You and Eric are welcome to see them. I would have shared them with Eric sooner, if I did not fear adding my observations might cloud his own judgment.”
“I’ll take those.”
“Good.” He looks me in the eye. “I understand why you might suspect me of this, but I did not do it, Casey. I am certain you have already ordered militia to keep an eye on me, but I can assure you, I will not leave Rockton. I trust you to find the correct answer, and I know I am not it.”
FIFTY-EIGHT
I’m at the station. Writing. Spelling out what fits and what doesn’t. It’s past noon when the door opens and Jen walks in.
I keep writing. She drags over a chair. It’s light enough to lift, but she drags it, legs scraping on the rough wood floor. Then she plunks herself onto it.
“Has anyone ever said you’re a phony bitch?” she asks.
I don’t raise my gaze from the paper. “Only you.”
“Oh, I’m sure others have said it. Just not to your face. You can talk the talk. Act like you’re some hard-ass feminist, but it’s all for show.”
I set down my pen. “I don’t know what a hard-ass feminist is. I’m a feminist, which only means that I think men and women deserve equal treatment. Hardly a groundbreaking concept. But I’m sure you’re about to give an example of where I failed in that.”
“About last night. I’ve been waiting for you to come and get my side of the story, but apparently, that’s not happening. You got the man’s side. That’s enough.”
“Yes, that must be it. It has nothing to do with the fact that one of you has proven trustworthy and the other has not. It may also be because I’m still mulling through Paul’s story. You were late. That got him out of Roger’s room. Then you further distracted him, giving the killer time—”
“No,” she says, and there seems to be genuine horror in her eyes. She covers it quickly with “So now I’m a suspect? Of course I am. I’m always a suspect.”
“Then you disagree with my reasoning?”
“I was late for my shift, but it’s not like Paul says, me sauntering in whenever I felt like it. I’d worked a double shift. I got three hours’ sleep and missed my alarm. I woke up, chugged cold coffee as I dressed, and then ran all the way to the station. Paul threatened to report me to Will, wouldn’t listen to my excuses. So, yes, I bought my way out of it with sex. If you want to judge me for that, go ahead. I did it to shut him up because I want the goddamn job and I didn’t trust you to listen to my side of the story. If I’d had any clue you’d actually think I was an accomplice—”
“Again, look at the facts. If it was anyone else, you’d berate me for not considering her. I’m sorry you felt you had to buy off Paul.”
“You know what you sound like, Butler? When I was a kid, I got into a fight at school. My stepdad said I needed to strike back at the bullies. So I did, and do you know who was sent for counseling? Not those bitches. Me. You sound just like my counselor. I’m sorry you feel that way, Jen. You’re mistaken, Jen. I understand your frustration, Jen.” She curls her lip. “Sanctimonious bitch.”
I walk over and add more logs to the fire.
“I gave you a chance,” she says. “I tried to help. You shit on me.”
I turn and look her in the eye. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
She takes a swing at me. I duck it, grab her arm, and wrench it up, forcing her over the desk.
“Sorry,” I say. “But you walked into that.”
She struggles beneath me.
“You didn’t give me a chance, Jen,” I say. “If you feel like you tried to reach out and I smacked you down, then I am sorry. Maybe I should have been quicker to ask for your side. But I was still investigating the possibility you were involved, and I needed to do that before I spoke to you. I will interview you when I’m ready.”
“Bitch.”
“Yes. I am. But I’m a bitch with a murder case to solve and an innocent woman to free, so unless you can help with that—”
“I’m not sure anyone can help you with that. You’re screwing up this case so badly, I have a better chance of solving it.”
“Awesome,” I say as I release her. “Go solve it.”
She shakes herself. “Do you know why else I was waiting for you to come talk to me, Butler? Because I have information that’ll blow your case wide open. A suspect you haven’t even considered.”
I turn on her. “And you were just sitting around, waiting for me to prove myself by coming by and earning your tip? While Nicole sits in a—”
“No,” she says. “I just figured it out, and when you didn’t come to me, I came to you.”
“Okay.…”
“Shawn Sutherland.”
“What about him?”
She stares at me and then shakes her head. “You really are thick. He’s your killer. Shawn Sutherland.”
“You’re serious?”