Page 70 of Close Her Eyes

“That make you any better than the community?” asked Noah. “Convicting him in your own mind without ever giving him a chance?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Cyrus said. “I tried to know him, okay? He was closed off.”

Josie thought of the way Mathias had responded to her commands from muscle memory. “Because you’re a police officer. He was probably wary of you after what happened in high school and then with Jana.”

Mettner cleared his throat. “Boss,” he said to Josie. “Garrick Wolfe is still in surgery. He might not make it. We can’t question him. Did Tobin say anything?”

“He said he didn’t hurt anyone. He said that he hadn’t hurt Keri or Garrick. I asked him—I asked him who was doing this to him—”

“Doing what?” Cyrus asked.

“Trying to ruin his life for the last twenty years. He said Dermot Hadlee.”

Cyrus said, “Why would Dermot Hadlee try to ruin Mathias’s life?”

“I don’t know,” Josie said. “I’m just telling you what he said. He was afraid. I could see it in his eyes.”

“We’re talking about a seventy-year-old stroke victim,” Cyrus said. “There is no way Dermot Hadlee could have been at Garrick Wolfe’s home last night and stabbed him.”

Mettner said, “He left the station before we did.”

“But we didn’t see anyone leaving the property,” Noah pointed out. “Garrick had just been stabbed. There were no other vehicles. The house was clear. It had to be Mathias.”

Images of Mathias flashed through Josie’s mind. Him standing in the doorway, looking stricken. Him trapped in the circle of light from her phone, looking defeated. “Mathias didn’t have any blood on his person. If he’d stabbed Garrick, there would have been something.”

“Then he changed his clothes,” said Mettner.

“No,” Josie sighed, eyes heavy and gritty. She was having a hard time keeping them open. “I’m sure it wasn’t Mathias.”

Anya’s voice drew everyone’s attention. “If there was someone else, they could have come up the north road. Parked near the downed trees and walked the rest of the way. Slipped in, stabbed Garrick, and gotten out before we arrived.”

Josie swung her gaze toward Cyrus. He said, “She’s right.”

“You’ve got a team processing the house, right?” asked Mettner.

“Of course,” Cyrus said. “We borrowed a team from the state police. They’re up there now. If there’s any DNA, any evidence that points us in the direction of someone, they’ll find it.”

“If Mathias had changed out of bloody clothes and stashed them somewhere, they’ll find that, too,” said Mettner.

“Who would know the layout?” asked Noah. “Know how to get up there to the house in the dark and back?”

Anya said, “Vance.”

“Why would Vance try to kill Garrick?” Mettner asked.

No one answered.

Noah said, “I thought that Garrick was good friends with the Hadlees.”

Anya nodded. “He is, always has been. He and Dermot have been friends since they were little boys. Dermot’s not easy to get along with but I never witnessed any bad blood between them.”

“There’s no beef between them,” said Cyrus. “Back when Garrick was practicing medicine, he delivered Dermot’s kids.”

Josie could barely push out any more words. They’d given her some painkillers when she arrived. Something slightly stronger than regular Tylenol. Now she could feel it take hold of her body. “Kids,” she said.

“What’s that?” Noah said, squeezing one of her hands.

“Garrick,” Josie said, “is Mathias Tobin’s biological father. Mathias…door…Garrick said, ‘my son.’”

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