Page 58 of Cold as Hell

“Who identified her by her scarf. Which we haven’t found.”

When I glance over, he shrugs and says, “Maybe I’ve been reading too many of April’s mystery novels, but if someone was identified only by a well-known scarf, it’d be a sure bet that wasn’t actually them.”

“It was the killer’s accomplice wearing the scarf? To muddy the timeline?” I tilt my head and consider. “That would only apply if spotting her in town at that timedidmuddy the timeline, which it doesn’t.”

“Yet.”

“True. I’ll bear it in mind. Marlon made the ID based on a scarf. Otherwise, no one saw her after Yolanda did, shortly before the storm started.” I push to my feet. “I want to have a look at the store.”

“It can’t wait until morning?”

I look at him. “I don’t know. If it’s clear enough to fly out in the morning, are you okay with waiting until I’ve searched the store? I can’t let a potential scene sit until I come back next month.”

He grumbles under his breath. “Fine. We stop by the store.”

“Has anyone been in there?” I say. “Besides me, when we were searching for her?”

“Not that I know of. It’s been closed since the storm.”

“Let’s see whether Lynn left any clues behind.”

I’d been in the store earlier, doing a cursory search right after we discovered that Lynn had gone missing. Now I’m looking at the scene with fresh eyes. I start with the accounts book at the counter. The last note is that Yolanda picked up a new shirt. Earlier, I’d noticed that the book was open, but now I pay more attention to how it’s been left open—facing toward the store, with a pen on the page. In light of what Mathias said about the store being empty, the placement of the book suggests Lynn hadn’t been grabbed or lured out unexpectedly. She’d opened the book, turned it toward the customer side of the counter, and left the pen there. That’s what she’d do if she just stepped out for a minute, trusting that any resident who isn’t Mathias would note what they took in her absence.

So the question becomes whether she popped out for a moment or did indeed leave ahead of the storm, keeping the store unlocked in case anyone needed something.

There’s no washroom in the store. Given the town setup, toilets are kept to a minimum. Inconvenient yes, but also efficient, minimizing the number of plumbing setups required.

Being the only person on staff, Lynn would need to leave to use the bathroom or to grab food or to get something from the main storerooms. In all cases, while she could lock up, we’d see no problem with leaving the store open.

If she went for food, someone would have seen her. The toilet or storeroom then.

We found one of her gloves, and Marlon saw her wearing her scarf. I double-check, but there’s no sign of any outerwear leftbehind. Would she put all her outerwear on to go to the toilet or storeroom? Probably not, given that the temperature had been above freezing. Shecouldhave, though. So while I suspect she’d been leaving for good, ahead of the storm, I can’t rule out the possibility she was only intending a quick stop before she returned.

If so,didshe return? Just because no one saw her doesn’t mean she couldn’t have popped out before Mathias arrived and returned after he left. If she really had closed early for the storm, that wouldn’t explain Marlon seeing her being escorted through the whiteout.

Unless she’d left early… but hadn’t gone home.

Lynn uses the storm as an excuse to leave work early and visit someone. She spends some time with that person and then heads home in the storm, which is when she was taken and Marlon saw her being “escorted.”

Is that the story? Is whoever she visited lying because he fears being blamed for sending her into that storm?

Or did she visit someone who thenpretendedto lead her home during the worst of the storm?

I turn to Dalton. “She was seen at—”

A shout from somewhere in town. Dalton strides to the door and throws it open. In the distance, a voice that is unmistakably Grant’s bellows, “Come out you son of a bitch! You did this to her, and I am going to fuckingendyou!”

“Shit,” I say.

Dalton glances back, as if ready to say he’ll handle this. Then he shakes his head and lopes off. And I follow.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I call Storm over and beeline for the residences. Grant has gone to confront Thierry and…

And that is not where the voices are coming from. I frown and peer through the dark town until I see Dalton. He’s up ahead, planted in front of Grant, who’s trying to get around him to the butcher shop. Mathias stands on the front porch, arms crossed, one hand holding a large knife.

“If you cannot handle him, I will,” Mathias says. “You do not want that.”

---