Page 72 of The Summer Guests

“Would you like one?” Declan asked.

Jo hesitated, eyeing the whisky. “No, thank you.” She sighed. “On duty.”

“Please sit down,” said Maggie. “We need to review the Conover situation.”

To her surprise, Jo sat down. Either they were beginning to earn her trust or she was so frustrated by the case, she was finally willing to listen to them.

Maggie splashed more whisky into her own glass and sat down, facing her. “Let’s review the facts. First, the girl was found barely alive at the bottom of a ravine, wearing a bathing suit. Correct?”

Jo nodded. “A purple Speedo. We also found one of her sandals lying nearby. I don’t know where the other one went.”

“What else was she wearing, besides the bathing suit?”

“Nothing. I mean, except for an elastic hair tie and a gold earring stud.”

“Only one earring?”

“In the right ear. The left one’s missing. If it got lost in the ravine, we’ll never find it, it’s so small.”

“So here’s what we know,” said Maggie. “Luther Yount said he left the girl at the Maiden Pond boat ramp. We know she made it back to Moonview, because she took off her dress, which was probably stained with menstrual blood, and put it in the washing machine. Since she put on a bathing suit, I assume she either went swimming or planned to go swimming. Six days later, she’s found eight miles away, at the bottom of a ravine, wearing only her bathing suit. Correct, so far?”

“So far,” said Jo.

“But now we come to two puzzling details: the backpack and the cell phone. Why weren’t they thrown in the ravine as well? I think the cell phone wasdeliberatelyplanted in Farley Wade’s truck. When he found it, he did what you’d expect him to do: he turned it on. It pinged off the cell towers and turned him into a suspect. I assume he’s actually a dead end?”

Jo snorted. “In more ways than one. We know he’s been breaking into houses on the pond. We know he’s guilty of burglary. But there are no forensic traces of the girl in his truck or in his double-wide. I just don’t see him as our kidnapper.”

“Neither do I.”

The doorbell rang again, and Maggie shot Declan a regretful look. So much for their intimate evening together.

She opened the door to find Ingrid and Lloyd on her porch. Lloyd held a foil-covered casserole dish, and Ingrid clutched two bottles of pinot noir.

“We’re here to check on the patient,” said Ingrid.

“And deliver sustenance.” Lloyd held up his casserole. “Manicotti. We’ve already delivered some to Ben.”

“He’s not coming?”

“He’s still at the hospital, helping them set up the video cams. Now they’ll be able to monitor every visitor who goes in and out of that ICU. He convinced the hospital their security system is completely inadequate.”

“When did Jo Thibodeau get here?” said Ingrid, noting the Purity PD patrol car parked in front. “Have we missed anything?”

Ingrid miss something? Not a chance,thought Maggie as she waved the couple into her house.

The evening had morphed into an impromptu potluck dinner of manicotti and roast chicken and potatoes. As Maggie brought plates and silverware to the dining table, Ingrid uncorked the pinot noir and filled glasses.

“Lloyd and I were just at the grocery store,” said Ingrid, as they all sat down. “There’s a lot of chatter about Zoe Conover. That she’s been found.”

“No surprise,” said Jo, spearing a chicken leg from the platter. “News travels fast.”

“But it presents a problem.”

“What problem?” Jo mumbled around the drumstick she was eating.Judging by the way she’s attacking her food, the girl must be starving,thought Maggie. She was glad to see Jo polish off her chicken and reach for a helping of manicotti. They knew Jo lived alone, in a two-bedroom bungalow on Simonton Road, and when did a single working woman have time to cook? A girl could not live on frozen pizza alone. This was one way to support their local police.

It was also an excellent opportunity to extract some information.

“The word’s out that Zoe’s alive,” said Lloyd. “If her attacker hears about it ...”

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