Page 87 of This is Why We Lied

“Around midnight last night.”

“Did she—” Dave gulped. “Did she suffocate?”

Faith studied his profile. This was the cunning part. He was really good at this.

Dave asked, “Did she know that it was happening? That she was dying?”

“Yes,” Faith said. “What did you do to her, Dave?”

“I—” His voice caught. “I strangled her. It was my fault. I choked her out too hard. She was gonna pass out, and I thought I pulled myself back in time but—Jesus. Oh, Jesus.”

Faith pulled some tissues from the box and handed them over.

Dave blew his nose. “Did … did she suffer?”

Faith crossed her arms. “She knew what was happening.”

“Oh, fuck! Fuck! What’s wrong with me?” Dave put his head in his hand. The handcuff rattled against the railing as he cried. “Mercy Mac. What did I do to you? She was terrified of suffocating. Since we were kids, she always had these dreams where she couldn’t breathe.”

Faith tried to figure out where to go from here. She was used to long negotiations with suspects who parceled out the truth. Sometimes they put themselves in the vicinity of the scene as opposed to in the actual spot, or admitted to one part of the crime but not the other.

This was another thing entirely.

“Jon.” Dave looked up at Faith. “Does he know what I did?”

Faith nodded.

“Fuck. He’s never gonna forgive me.” Dave’s head went back into his hand. “She tried to call me. I didn’t see it come in cause I didn’t have a signal up on the mountain. I could’ve saved her. Does Bitty know? I need to see Bitty. I gotta explain—”

“Wait,” Faith said. “Go back. When did Mercy call you?”

“I don’t know. I saw the messages when Biscuits took my phone away. They must’a loaded when we got down the hill.”

Faith found Dave’s Android on the sink by the door. She used the edge of her notebook to bump the screen on. There was at least half a dozen notifications, all time stamped, all but one with the same message:

MISSED CALL 10:47PM – Mercy Mac

MISSED CALL 11:10PM – Mercy Mac

MISSED CALL 11:12PM – Mercy Mac

MISSED CALL 11:14PM – Mercy Mac

MISSED CALL 11:19PM – Mercy Mac

MISSED CALL 11:22PM – Mercy Mac

Faith scrolled down to the last one.

VOICEMAIL 11:28PM – Mercy Mac

Faith flipped open her notebook. She looked at the timeline.

By Will’s estimation, Mercy had howled at 11:30 PM, two minutes after she had left a voicemail for Dave. Faith stuck her notebook back in her pocket. She slipped on the sheriff’s gloves before picking up Dave’s phone and walking back to his bed.

She asked him, “You couldn’t get a signal on your phone, but Mercy could?”

“There’s Wi-Fi around the main house and at the dining hall, but you don’t get cell coverage until you’re halfway down the mountain.” He wiped his eyes. “Can I listen to it? I wanna hear her voice.”

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