Page 63 of This is Why We Lied

The state of Georgia was the first to recognize the office of coroner in its 1777 constitution. The position was elected, and there were only a few requirements to run for office: candidates must be at least twenty-five years of age, registered to vote in the county in which they were running, have no felonies on their record and have a high school diploma.

One coroner out of the state’s 154 counties was an actual physician. The rest were funeral directors, farmers, retirees, pastors, and in one case, a motor-boat repairman. The position paid $1200 a year and required the coroner to be on call 24/7. Sometimes, you got what you paid for. Which was how a suicide could be ruled a homicide and an act of domestic violence could be coded as a slip-and-fall.

Sara’s hiking boots snicked against the mud as she walked toward the parking pad. The driver’s side door opened. She was surprised to see a woman get out. She was even more surprised to see the woman was dressed in coveralls and a trucker hat. Sara had been expecting a funeral director because of the van. The floodlights caught the logo on the back panel. Moushey Heating and Air. Sara felt her stomach grip itself into a fist.

“Yeah,” the woman was saying to Will. “Biscuits told me y’all were trying to horn in on the case.”

Sara had to bite her lip to keep her mouth closed.

“Don’t worry,” the woman had clocked her expression. “Multiple stab wounds, right? Gonna say homicide is an easy call on that one. State’s gonna get the body eventually. No harm in starting out with you here. I’m Nadine Moushey, Dillon County coroner. You’re Dr. Linton?”

“Sara.” The woman had an uncomfortably firm grip. “What have you been told?”

“Mercy was stabbed to death, probably Dave did it. Heard it’s your honeymoon, too?”

Sara felt Will’s surprise. He still didn’t know how small towns worked. Every person within fifty miles probably knew about the murder by now.

Nadine said, “That sucks big time. Though if I’m looking back at my honeymoon, probably would’ve been lucky if somebody had killed the bastard.”

Will said, “It seems like you know the victim and the main suspect.”

“My little brother went to school with Mercy. I knew Dave from hanging out at the Tastee Freeze. He’s always been a violent prick. Mercy had her troubles, but she was okay. Not mean like the rest of ’em. Which was to her detriment, I guess. You don’t wanna be dropped into a snake pit unless you’ve got the sharpest fangs.”

Will asked, “Is there anyone other than Dave who would want Mercy dead?”

“I was thinking on that the whole drive up,” Nadine said. “I haven’t run across Mercy since Papa’s accident a year and a half ago, and then I only saw her once at the hospital. Town’s a hard place for her. She mostly stays up the mountain. Place is real isolated. Not a lot for folks to gossip about if you’re not mixing it up in town a little.”

Sara asked, “What about the scar on her face?”

“Car accident. Drunk driving. Hit a guard rail. Metal split up the middle, pretty much sliced off one side of her face. There’s a long, sad story behind that, but Biscuits can tell you the nitty gritty. It was his pa, Sheriff Hartshorne, who handled it, but Biscuits worked the scene, too. The families have always been close.”

Sara wasn’t surprised by the information. It helped explain why Biscuits was in no hurry.

“The sheriff told me Dave’s license got revoked off a DUI,” Will said. “He mentioned that Dave has a female driver who brings him up to the lodge and back so that he can work.”

Nadine gave a belly laugh. “That female would be Bitty. Dave’s burned about every woman in the tri-county area. Nobody would get out of bed for him. Or in bed, if you ask me. I’ve already raised two boys. Don’t want to take care of another. What happened to your hand, you don’t mind my asking?”

Will looked down at his bandaged hand. “You didn’t hear about the murder weapon?”

Sara supplied, “Will attempted CPR. He didn’t realize that the knife blade was broken off inside Mercy’s chest.”

Will said, “Locating the knife handle should be a priority. I didn’t see anything laying around when I searched the cottages for Dave, but it’s worth a more thorough search.”

“Fuck me, that’s grim. Let’s head on down while we’re talking.” Nadine reached into her van and pulled out a flashlight and a toolbox. “First light’s not for another couple’a three hours. We got more rain coming mid-morning, but I’m not gonna try to bring her out until the sun’s up. For now, let’s see what’s the what.”

Nadine walked ahead with the flashlight. She kept the beam pointed at the ground, illuminating a few yards at a time. Will waited until they were on the bottom part of the Loop Trail to start briefing the coroner on the events of the evening. The fight at dinner. The screams in the night. Finding Mercy clinging to the last seconds of her life on the lake shore.

Hearing it all said aloud put Sara at the scene again. She silently added her own perspective. Rushing through the forest. Desperate to find Will. Finding him kneeling over Mercy. The look of anguish on his face. He’d been so overcome with grief that he hadn’t even noticed Sara, let alone the blade sticking out of his right hand.

The memory threatened to bring tears again. When the two of them had been standing alone on the McAlpines’ front porch, Sara had been so relieved to feel his arms around her, but now she realized that Will had probably needed comfort, too.

She reached down to hold his left hand as they started down a winding path. Sara had seen Lost Widow Trail clearly marked on the map, but her logical brain had failed her when she’d dashed off into the woods, barefooted and panicked by the sound of Will’s pleas for help.

The terrain started to drop precipitously. The trail meandered back and forth as they spiraled down. The path wasn’t as well maintained as the Loop. Nadine mumbled a curse when a low-hanging branch knocked back her hat. She raised the flashlight higher to keep it from happening again. They went single file as they zigzagged down into the ravine below the dining hall. The string lights around the railing were off. Sara guessed the staff had left shortly after dinner. She tried not to think about standing on the observation deck with Will. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Will slowed his pace as the trail widened. Sara hung back, too. She knew he wanted to know what had happened with the app guys. If they were even app guys. Both men had proven they were adept liars.

But then, so had Sara and Will.

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