Page 60 of This is Why We Lied

“My plan is to have Dave in custody by then so she can do the interrogation.”

“You’re still sure it’s him?”

“We can talk about who else it could be, or I can go find Dave and settle it once and for all.”

Sara got the feeling that Will had more things to settle than he was letting on. “What about the sheriff? He made it clear he doesn’t want our help.”

“Amanda wouldn’t be sending Faith if she didn’t have a plan.” Will’s phone went back into his pocket. “I need you in the house while I check the empty cottages.”

Sara couldn’t go back into the depressing house. “I’ll talk to Gordon and Paul. Maybe I can figure out what’s going on there. Do you remember anything about the tattoo?”

“Lots of flowers, a butterfly, a curly script, definitely a word. Arced around his chest here.” He touched his hand over his heart. “He put on a T-shirt before he came out. I don’t know if that means he didn’t want anyone else to see it or maybe he was just putting on a shirt because that’s what you do when you get out of the shower.”

This was the frustrating part of an investigation. People lied. They hid things. They kept their secrets. They shared others. And sometimes none of it had anything to do with the crime you were trying to solve.

Sara told him, “I’ll see what I can find out.”

Will nodded, but he didn’t move. He was really going to wait until she was safely inside cottage five.

Sara borrowed the large umbrella leaning up against the side of the house. Her hiking boots were waterproof, but there was no stopping the rain from splashing against her legs. By the time she reached the small, covered porch, her pants were soaked from the knees down. So much for the water-resistant material. She folded the umbrella, then knocked on the door.

It was hard to tell if there was any sound inside the cottage over the white noise of rain. Fortunately, Sara didn’t have to wait long before Gordon answered the door. He was wearing black briefs and fuzzy slippers.

Instead of asking Sara why she was here or what she wanted, he flung open the door, saying, “Misery loves company.”

“Welcome to our sad little party,” Paul called from his place on the couch. He was wearing boxers and a white T-shirt. His bare feet rested on the coffee table. “We’re just sitting around in our underwear getting hammered.”

Sara tried to play along. “Reminds me of college.”

Gordon laughed as he walked into the kitchen. “Grab a seat.”

Sara chose one of the deep club chairs. The cottage was smaller than her own, with the same style furniture. She could see through to the bedroom. There were no suitcases laid out on the bed, which she took as a sign that they weren’t planning to leave. Or maybe they had different priorities. There was an open bottle of bourbon on the coffee table. Two empty glasses were beside it. The bottle was half full.

Gordon put a third glass on the table. “What a fucking night. Morning. Fuck, the sun will be up soon.”

Sara could feel Paul studying her.

He asked, “Married to a cop, huh?”

“Yes.” Sara wasn’t going to lie anymore. “I work for the state, too. I’m a medical examiner.”

“I could not touch a dead body.” Gordon scooped up the bourbon from the coffee table. “This stuff tastes like turpentine, but you wouldn’t know it from the price.”

Sara recognized the upscale label. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a hard drink. Will had an aversion to alcohol that dated back to his childhood. Sara had become a teetotaler by default.

Paul said, “It’s the altitude, right? Changes your taste buds.”

“Hon, that’s on airplanes.” Gordon sloshed doubles into all three glasses. “We can’t be thirty thousand feet up right now.”

Paul asked, “What’s the elevation here?”

He was looking at Sara when he asked the question, so she provided, “We’re about twenty-three hundred feet above sea level.”

“Thank God we’re not going to get hit by a plane. That would be the cherry on top of this shit sundae.” Gordon handed Sara her glass. “What does a medical examiner do? Is that like what’s her name who was in that show?”

“What show?” Paul asked.

“The one with the hair. We heard her on Mountain Stage. And then she was on Madam Secretary.”

---