“I don’t—”
“When you were a teenager, she caught you with an older woman who didn’t meet her standards. Your mother locked you up in an old shack for two months. When you were twenty, you fell for a girl from another settlement, a girl your mother approved of. But the girl wasn’t interested in you. She disappeared, never to be seen again. Any idea where I might find her, Benjamin?”
“I have no clue what—”
“Your mother suspected you took her. She told you if you did, that was fine—you had needs and eventually, the girl would come around and be your wife. I’m guessing she didn’t come around. So you killed her.”
“I did not kill her. She—” He stops. “I didn’t kill anyone. I don’t know this Benjamin person. I think you’ve been out here too long. That’s what happens—you go nuts. The only reason that sheriff doesn’t fire you is because it’ll cut off his supply. Gotta keep his woman happy. Keep her spreading her legs.”
“Which is a skill you never actually mastered, did you?” I say.
“Because women are all whores,” he spits. “Whores who think they’re too good for men like me. Even you, Detective. That first day you were here, you got caught in that bar brawl, and I ran in to help out, and you never even noticed. But when Will and Mick came to your rescue you sure noticed them.”
He’s talking about the fight Jen started at the Roc. Anders and Mick hadn’t rescued me. They’d just joined in for crowd control as the brawl got out of hand.
“Tell us where Nicole is,” I say.
“How the hell should I know? I never touched her. Never touched any of them. How could I? I was down south when the first two disappeared. I came from down south.”
“No, you didn’t. You were here, in the First Settlement, until a couple of years ago.”
“Then how did I take those two women?”
“After that first girl died, it wasn’t safe to grab someone else from a settlement. But you knew about Rockton from your parents. So you staked it out. Waited for women to go into the forest. You took Robyn. Kept her; killed her. Then you came back and took Victoria. At some point you discovered the cave was a better place to hold them. Also, at some point, you started thinking Rockton looked a lot cozier than the First Settlement. So when Victoria died, you decided it was time to reunite with dear old dad. You knew from his stories that he came from a wealthy family. You found him down south and blackmailed him into giving you the entrance money and a decent story. Then you bought your way into Rockton, as an actual citizen. That’s why the time line doesn’t work. You were in the forest when you took Robyn and Victoria but living here when you went after Nicole.”
This is the idea Isabel’s story had ignited. The tale of her lover who’d left and then returned, moving a few hours away while Isabel presumed he was still across the ocean. What if our killer was a settler who’d seemed to leave and then come back as a Rockton resident? He would know both worlds—able to navigate the forest and the caves, while living in Rockton.
“Do you realize how crazy—?” Sutherland begins.
“You just had to keep to yourself and hope no one asked too many questions. But even something as innocent as Jen wondering what grade you taught was problematic. A dead-easy question to answer … for anyone who grew up down south and knows the education system.”
“You really think I did it, don’t you?” he says.
“I know you did. Your mother described you. She even said you’ve got bad scar tissue on your left foot, from where she held your foot to the fire, literally. If you want to prove you aren’t Benjamin Sanders, just let me see that foot out the door.”
He laughs. “Right. I don’t trust anyone in this goddamned town of whores and liars. If you’ve decided I did it, then I’m dead already. The only revenge I’ll have is that when I’m dead, you’ll see your mistake. You’ll realize you had the wrong man.”
As he’s ranting, we’re getting into position, Anders and Kenny at the door with a log battering ram. Dalton beside it, ready to swing in. I’m poised with my gun, in case Benjamin attacks.
“There!” he yells. “It’s done, damn you. It’s done. I’ve just ingested enough dope to put me to sleep, and I’ll never wake up.”
Anders and Kenny ram the door. It holds fast. Inside, Sutherland is laughing hysterically. “And what good do you think that will do? I’m dead. Don’t you get it? Dead man walking. Dead man talking. You’ve killed me. Murdered an innocent man.”
The ram hits again, and this time the wood cracks. They rip away at it until it’s clear. Sutherland is across the room, sitting on the floor, grinning as wide as he can.
“Too late,” he says. “Too little, too late.”
Beside him is a syringe. He waggles an empty bottle at us. “Gone. All gone. And in a minute, so am I.”
Anders, Kenny, and Dalton run over and grab Sutherland as he collapses.