Page 71 of In the Bones
“We have some questions about where you were last Labor Day weekend,” said Tim. “Mikko Helle held a party that Saturday night, and we have reason to believe that you were there.”
“I wasn’t.” He said it quickly. “I know the party you’re talking about. I wasn’t there.”
“Got any proof to that effect?”
“Actually,” said Terry smugly, “I do. Last Labor Day weekend, I was in Potsdam. I had a project out that way, and a late meeting with the owners. I stayed the night at a Hampton Inn.”
Mac was watching Tim and Shana closely. This was not the answer they’d been expecting.
“You and Mikko are friends, is that right?”
“We’re partners,” he said. “But sure, I guess we’re friendly.”
“So you’ve spent time at his house outside of overseeing the renovation?”
“Not much. I don’t live anywhere near there,” said Terry. “I’m up in Hammond, almost an hour away.”
Mac cast her memory back to the previous day, and the bloodbath of a debate. Terry had been there, deep in conversation with Bruce. But Hammond was in St. Lawrence County, not Jefferson. If that was where Terry lived, he couldn’t vote in the sheriff election. So what had he been doing at the debate?
“Excuse me for a minute,” Shana said. Reaching into her pocket for her phone, she walked toward the Rivermouth, her lips a thin line. If Mac had to guess, she was calling Solomon or Val to have them verify Terry Martino’s claim.
At the ambulance, Tim wasn’t giving up. “Are you in a relationship with Stacy Peel?” he asked.
“Yeah,” said Terry, his face contorted in pain as he glanced down at his leg once more. “We started dating last summer.”
“She’s one of Mikko’s partners on this project too, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“The thing is,” said Tim, “so is Woody Durham. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Terry Martino heaved a sigh. “I would hardly call him a partner, but yes. I think he put a little money in as well.”
“Why all the secrecy? There have been several news reports about the project, and the only person mentioned is Mikko Helle.”
“Mikko wants it that way,” Terry said. “He’s going to be the face of it all, for promotional reasons. He wants to rebrand it as Helle Ice House. Helle House for short.” Terry’s lip spasmed. The name pleased him, Mac could tell. She’d bet a month’s supply of wine that it had been Terry’s idea.
“Mr. Martino, where were you yesterday afternoon around one p.m.?”
The abrupt shift in questioning seemed to startle him. “I’d have to check my calendar. At a job site, probably. I was all over the place yesterday.”
“Including a home in Clayton?”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, I’ve got no business over there.”
“Woody’s wife, Nicole Durham, was attacked yesterday at a house in that area,” said Tim. “You sure you weren’t nearby?There aren’t a lot of people who have cause to follow and assault a local mother.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” he said. “I have no reason to assault her either. Why would I?”
Tim said, “I think the answer to that lies with Woody.”
“I really don’t understand,” said Terry.
Shana was back, and looking more encouraged than she’d been before making her phone call.
“I just checked in with the hospital,” she said. “Mr. Martino, you should know that Molly Kranz is alive.”
“What? But I saw her,” the man said. “The blood … she was definitely dead.”
