Page 63 of Find Me

Lindsay felt a lump in her throat at the thought of Hope being physically abused by her own mother. She knew from her legal work how bad it had to be for prison to be involved. If Hope had slipped a few bucks from some rich guy’s wallet, it would only be because she desperately needed it.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Melanie. You’re a really good liar. You honestly sound like a woman who believes every word of the bullshit you’re spewing. There’s only one problem: Alex told someone that he killed your husband, and, more importantly,why. And we have his phone records. We know he called you. You didn’t want him to confess.”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to hit rewind and start over again. She had said too much. Melanie was going to walk out of this bathroom, and she’d never get a second chance.

But Melanie stayed put, looking down at her designer heels, her shoulders slumped. When her gaze returned to Lindsay, the color haddrained from her face. “Is this some stunt you have planned for trial, or do you have actual proof that that man was the one who killed Hitch?”

“He told everything to his sister—one of your husband’s victims.”

“Victim? What are you even talking about? And you think this man also confessed to me? I would have gone straight to the police.”

Lindsay heard a low male voice on the other side of the door, followed by Ellie Hatcher’s. As the door slowly cracked open, she made out the end of Ellie’s sentence: “At least let me.”

“Is everything all right, Ms. Locke?” the professor called out over Ellie’s shoulder. “The reception has begun.”

“Be right out,” Melanie said brightly. Tidying up her already perfect mascara with one fingertip, she said quietly to Lindsay, “This wasn’t the time or place, but it’s clear to me that you have more information than the police do about my husband’s murder and yet have drawn some very misplaced conclusions about me. I’ll be in touch.”

“I really don’t think she knew.” Lindsay could barely keep up with Ellie Hatcher’s march across the campus parking lot.

“I told you, you should have recorded it,” the detective said, shaking her head.

“Which I already toldyouis illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, which means we could never use it as evidence.”

Ellie flashed a thumbs-down sign. The irony of a defense attorney respecting the law more than a cop was not lost on Lindsay.

“She seemed completely shocked when I said Alex admitted to the shooting. I think Decker convinced her that Hope killed both her husband and Alex.”

“Trust me. I’ve seen Oscar-worthy renditions of ‘Who? Li’l ol’ me?’” Ellie flashed wide eyes and clutched at imaginary pearls as Lindsay pulled onto I-95. “My dad used to tell me, ‘Find the motive, and the motive will lead you to the man.’”

“So how does that play out here?”

“Well, Carter Decker apparently thinks all roads lead to Hope, because he doesn’t know that Alex was about to confess.”

“But if you know that,” Lindsay said, thinking aloud, “who has an incentive to keep that from happening?”

“Hope, to be honest. If Alex had come forward, she could have been dragged into it. Felony murder for everyone.”

“Except Hope couldn’t remember any of it. And if Hope has a motive, so does Jess.”

“But Jess didn’t even know Alex Lopez’s name, let alone what he was planning to do.”

Switching into the left lane to pass a U-Haul, Lindsay said, “So that leaves Melanie Locke.”

“Exactly.”

“Unless someone else had a reason to want Richard Mullaney’s crimes to remain hidden.”

Lindsay’s subconscious was on the verge of forming the next sentence when her phone rang. Seeing the 316 area code on her screen, she recalled what Emilia Lopez had told her.He went back to that cop he knew when we were kids. The cop told Alex that it wouldn’t matter that the shooting was an accident, or even if we could prove what Hitch had done to me. It was felony murder, no matter what. So that’s why Alex left town.

Lindsay fumbled her phone with one hand, eager to accept the call before it dropped to voice mail. “This is Lindsay.”

“Hey, is this a good time to talk?”

It wasn’t, but Lindsay wanted confirmation. “Sure. What’s up?”

Ellie glared at her, clearly frustrated with the interruption. Lindsay mouthed that the call was from Alex’s sister.

“I got hold of Katy Barnes,” Emilia said, “and you were right. She also was one of Hitch’s quote ‘chosen favorites.’ He told her she was brilliant and glamorous and special, all the things he used to whisper to me. She made that Facebook comment you found but didn’t pursue an actualcomplaint until the Me Too movement had her thinking again about how Hitch got away with everything he did. She found three other victims, and they all came forward together. At the end of the day, they decided to take a settlement offer in exchange for keeping quiet.”

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