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“Well, thanks for not shouting your questions in front of the children,” the woman, who introduced herself as Sam Quinton, said after Alexa stated her purpose. Quinton wore a no-nonsense black one-piece and toweled her short dark hair vigorously as she kept a watchful eye on the kids. “I have a pretty good indication what’s going on across the lake, and I don’t want the children to get wind of it. God, a murder! Here!” She shook her head, a few stray droplets spraying out from the gesture. “You can’t get away from it anywhere, can you? This dissolution of the social fabric. It’sendemic.”
“Were you out at all late yesterdayevening?”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Like on the town, you mean? Fat chance, with these three. Biggest social event in our lives is taking them to thedentist.”
Alexa smiled politely. “Maybe you saw a light or some activity from your window or patiodoor…?”
Quinton should her shook her head. “I sleep like the dead. And so, unfortunately, does my husband. Because he never knows just how late Grayson stays out at night.” She broke off for a moment to shout, “Bradley, absolutely not! You do not hold your sister’s head under water!” She turned back to Alexa. “Twenty-three years old, sleeps all day and doesn’t lift a finger. Forget about paying rent. My step-son, not myhusband.”
A flicker of hope ignited in Alexa. “So your stepson was out late lastnight?”
“If he weren’t, it’d be the first night all summer. He’s inside. Still sleeping, as Isaid.”
“I knocked earlier.” Alexa looked back toward the rental. “There was noanswer.”
A grim smile tilted her lips. “Oh, I can fix that.” She walked a few steps toward the dock and leaned to pick up her cell phone, keyed in a number. After several moments, she said, “Oh, Grayson, it’s Sam. I’m so very sorry to wake you.” Her expression was positively gleeful. “But there’s someone out here with RCMP who would like to speak to you. What? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not certain exactly what she wants. But we’re out back when you care to join us.” She cut off the call and gave a satisfied smile. “I don’t think he’ll belong.”
Not quite sure what to say in the face of those family dynamics, Alexa waited silently. As the woman had indicated, it was only a few minutes before a tall, thin young man, clad only in athletic shorts, stumbled out the back door of the house, pulling a T-shirt over his head. Alexa went to meet him. “GraysonQuinton?”
“Uh, yeah.” He looked like he could still be in high school, with a scraggly goatee and patchy facial hair. “I don’t know what Shorty Roder told you, but I already promised to pay for thedamages.”
Surveying him, Alexa was half glad she didn’t have to get to the bottom of that story. “I understand you were out last night. What time did you gethome?”
With a sidelong glance at his stepmother, he said, “Uh, right around midnight, Ithink.”
“It’s important to be accurate with any information you share with the RCMP, Grayson,” Sam saidvirtuously.
“Uh, yeah, you know it might’ve been later than that. I sort of lost track oftime.”
Reaching for her rapidly fraying patience, Alexa said, “How muchlater?”
Shifting from one bare foot to the other, he said, “Maybe…it could have been three or three-thirty.”
“Did you see anyone as you got closer to the lake? Cars or people that stoodout?”
“Not really, I guess. I was pretty…” With a quick look at his stepmother, he seemed to amend his words. “…tired. Didn’t notice much of anything. Oh. Except I stopped on the way to take apiss.”
“Grayson, honestly! Your language!” Quintonscolded.
He lifted a narrow shoulder. “Couldn’t wait ’til I got home, so I pulled off onto one of the logging roads on the west side of the lake. Got out for a couple of minutes and then headedhere.”
Alexa was fast coming to share Sam Quinton’s opinion of the stepson. “Did you seeanyone?”
He swung his head slowly from one side to the other. “There was hardly any other traffic most of the way home. But when I stopped to pee, there was a vehicle of some sort parked on that road, deeper into the trees. I figured it belonged to Andersen’s logging company. I didn’t notice anyone around it,though.”
Nyle must have finished next door and was now rounding the house to join Alexa. “What sort of vehicle?” sheasked.
“Um…I didn’t get a great look at it.” Grayson folded his arms across his bonychest.
“I mean, was it equipment the company might use? A car?What?”
“Oh. No, it wasn’t logging machinery. But it wasn’t a car either. Too big. Like a van or something, I guess. Not a minivan like Sam drives, though.” There was disdain in his tone. “A bigger one like businessesuse.”
Alexa could tell by the falter in Nyle’s step that he was close enough to hear what the young man had said. “Did you notice a color?” shepersisted.
“White maybe or some other light shade. Oh, hey!” He finally seemed aware of his surroundings and gazed at the scene across the water. “What’s going on overthere?”