Page 16 of Murder in the Lighthouse

“So that was a mutual thing, right?” Brogan prompted. “You both agreed to that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Any reason you didn’t take it to the next level?” Lucien prodded.

Lacey let out a sigh. “I really liked his parents and got along well with Bethany. They felt more like family than my own did. His parents accepted me like I was another one of their kids. In my mind, it made dating rather awkward. Sam and I agreed that there was no spark between us, and we decided we would get along better as best friends than lovers. You see, I’m originally from the East Coast, Rhode Island. When holidays rolled around, instead of me flying cross-country back home, I would spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Easter with the Heywoods. Barry and Marta are great people. Have you met them yet?”

“Not yet,” Lucien replied. “We’re headed to Santa Cruz this afternoon.”

“I think they’d love a visit from someone who took an interest in both cases. With Sam’s case handled by the local authorities here and Bethany’s case thrown to the sheriff’s department, it’s confusing for them.”

“How did you become so close to Bethany?”

Lacey shrugged. “I don’t know. Bethany was only two years behind us. We became like the Three Musketeers. Our friendship goes back to those years when we did everything together. We’d go clubbing, ice skating, and try out new restaurants. We’d judge each other’s dates, sizing up friends, taking trips through wine country. You name it, we did it together. It’s what best friends do. After college, we even got a three-bedroom apartment together to save on rent so that one day, we could afford to buy a house. Not altogether. Each one of us wanted our separate living space. You know, like doing the grownup thing. In California, buying a home is particularly difficult unless you come from money.”

“But you weren’t living together when they disappeared,” Lucien pointed out.

“No. A few years ago, Sam was able to buy a townhouse. He was the first one to move out. Then, a couple of years later, I had saved enough to buy my condo, leaving Bethany to get new roommates, which she did. But this past summer, Bethany bought a little fixer-upper, a bungalow about a mile from my place. She’s always been a whiz at DIY projects and was just getting started on her own renovations on the house when she went missing. The three of us did things together almost every single Saturday. We walked through the farmer’s market together the day before she disappeared. Over the summer, we went furniture shopping and stopped by all the thrift stores to find stuff for our houses. We had picnics at the beach. This is what we did for a decade.”

Lacey paused long enough to wipe away tears. “There was always something fun to do with them. Sam was...Sam was kind, always ready to share his opinion about my date or tease me about my taste in décor. Bethany is generous and sweet. They were both good workers, dedicated to their jobs. Sam was very passionate about making Santa Cruz a better place to live.But lately, he seemed...worried. Something bothered him. He mentioned some tensions at work, but he never went into detail. And I didn’t want to push.”

Brogan jotted down more notes next to Sam’s name on her tablet. “What about Bethany? Was she having any issues at work?”

“Not that I know about. Bethany and Sam are a lot alike. They don’t talk about their problems at work. We didn’t share those kinds of things. We spent our downtime relaxing, not rehashing boring stuff from work. I’m trying to explain that they’re just two ordinary people like me. None of us have dangerous jobs. We don’t go out of our way to confront others or start an argument. We get up every day and go to work. We spent our weekends doing the things we loved to do. You know, normal stuff.”

“Who was Sam dating recently?”

“That’s just it. No one. He broke up with a coworker last June. But hadn’t dated anyone since then.”

“Who’s the coworker?” Brogan asked.

“Anna Padillo. Anna met someone else on a business trip to San Francisco last spring. Apparently it got serious fairly quickly because, over Memorial Weekend, she ended things with Sam. That was in June. The three of us started spending a lot more time together after that.”

“And you can’t think of anyone who might want to harm them?” Lucien probed.

She shook her head. “No one comes to mind. Can you get to the bottom of this, find out what happened to Bethany, and find Sam’s killer?”

Brogan exchanged looks with Lucien. “We’re going to try.”

For the next hour, they encouraged Lacey to talk, to share every memory she had of Sam and Bethany, hoping it would paint a reliable picture of the brother and sister.

Brogan continued taking notes, capturing every detail about their personalities, their habits, and their relationships. Clearly, Lacey held her friends in high regard, and her concern for their well-being seemed genuine.

As Lacey finished recounting a particularly funny anecdote involving Sam and a mishap during a camping trip back in college, Brogan waited for an opening to interject. “Lacey, do you know what brought Sam to Pelican Pointe to look for his sister? Were there any ties to Pelican Pointe before Bethany went missing?”

Lacey gave a sharp intake of breath, furrowed her brow, and shook her head. “No. I don’t think either one ever mentioned Pelican Pointe. I can’t think of a single reason Sam would have been here unless he branched out to put up flyers. You know, in the surrounding area. Santa Cruz was their home, where they both grew up. It doesn’t make sense unless...” Her voice trailed off, a flicker of realization crossing her face.

Brogan leaned in, her gaze intense. “Unless what, Lacey? Please, anything you can remember might be helpful.”

Lacey sucked in a deep breath. “Bethany could’ve met someone online from here. I know because we grabbed something to eat after we finished at the farmer’s market that Saturday. Over lunch, she mentioned she had signed up at a website a couple of weeks earlier, hoping to meet new hiking buddies. Sam cautioned her, explaining that we’d go with her anytime if she wanted to hike. She didn’t need to meet strangers to go hiking. I remember how Bethany bristled at that suggestion. She didn’t like us butting in on her chance to meet new people, though.”

“It sounds like she might’ve been pulling away from your Three Musketeers,” Lucien charged.

“It’s possible. But I didn’t get that impression. Bethany could spend her weekends however she wanted and withwhomever. It wasn’t my business to tell her who she couldn’t meet.”

Brogan’s eyes widened slightly at this piece of information. She traded looks with Lucien. “You did mention this to the detective investigating her disappearance, right?”

“Absolutely. I told the detective everything I knew about her social media profiles and what sites she was on. Those that I knew about. He claimed forensics had taken her laptop. Someone surely knows by now, after three weeks, who she met up with that Sunday at Wilder Ranch.”

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