Page 86 of Only One More Lie

“Anything else?” Jared asked.

Duke shook his head. “I don’t think so. I know you need to get to work. But if you think of anything else . . .”

Andi set her business card on the table.

Jared nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”

Duke happened to glance out the window as he turned to take a step from the room.

When he did, the snowman in the backyard made his blood go cold.

CHAPTER 45

Andi heard Duke suck in a breath, and she followed his gaze.

Her eyes widened when she saw the snowman in the center of Jared’s backyard.

“You guys okay?” Confusion marred Jared’s voice.

Andi pointed at the window, her arm trembling. “Did you build that?”

“The snowman?” A knot formed between his eyebrows. “No. Why are you asking?”

Duke and Andi glanced at each other.

“Youdorealize this killer leaves snowmen, right?” Andi asked, surprised at his cluelessness.

“Oh.” Realization washed over Jared’s features. “The December Dismemberer . . . but he doesn’t leave every snowman. Neighborhood kids built that one.”

“In your backyard?” Duke murmured in surprise.

Jared shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal. “Their backyard is full of junk their dad collects. I personally think he’s a hoarder. Anyway, sometimes they like to play in my backyard—without my permission, usually. It doesn’t really matter to me, andsince there’s no fence up, they probably don’t even think about property lines. That said, they built a snowman earlier today.”

Andi studied Jared’s face, determined to make sure he was thinking this through. “Are yousurethey’re the ones who built it?”

He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure. I mean, I wasn’t watching them the whole time. But when I saw the snowman, that’s what I assumed.”

“Do you mind if we take a closer look?” Duke asked.

“Feel free.”

He and Andi went to the back door and carefully stepped outside. They trudged toward the snowman, knowing they shouldn’t disturb the scene in case it turned out to be something.

Andi stopped in front of the snowman to examine it.

This one was bigger than the others left at the crime scenes. Those had all been around four feet tall. This one was closer to six feet.

The first thing she looked for was any body parts—the real kind that the killer took from his victims.

This snowman had stick arms. Two mismatched rocks for the eyes. An old, stained towel for the scarf. No nose.

Andi glanced at the snowy ground to make sure nothing had fallen off.

She saw nothing, but ithadsnowed this morning. The evidence could be buried.

Using her foot, she carefully brushed away some snow from the ground, just to be certain.

But there was nothing hiding beneath the white mounds other than some leaves and twigs.

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