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Archie had understood a few key things about himself since junior high. He didn’t think Beau shared that self-knowledge. But he did know that Beau was not accidentally locking gazes with him, and it was the nicest thing that had happened to him in what felt like a very long time.

It was always an odd friendship, though.

Beau’s pals were all other jocks, and they didn’t see whatever Beau did in Archie.

Archie did not want problems or distractions, so he’d mostly tried to avoid Beau when he was with his crew.

But the other thing about the teenaged Beau was that he was very kind.

His dogs—he had two—were both strays he’d rescued. Nobody got hazed or bullied or mocked when Beau was around. He carried groceries for old ladies and raked the leaves for his widowed neighbor. He humored his parents and went to church every single Sunday morning. He was…soft-hearted.

So, it was possible that his initial efforts to befriend Archie had been motivated by the instinct to be nice to the new orphan in town—Archie’s sad backstory was common knowledge in Twinkleton. How could it not be? But over the months, the friendship had strengthened, and Archie had become fully vested—probably around the first time Beau had kissed him—and he’d felt it necessary to stake his small claim in Beau’s very large social circle.

Not everyone welcomed him, but most of Beau’s friends tolerated his presence. The exception had been Mike Sullivan. He and Beau had known each other since kindergarten, and Sully did not care for Archie one little bit.

Things had come to a head one afternoon when a bunch of them had been hanging out at Beau’s parents’ house, watching yet another football game on TV. Sully had made some dig about Archie always tagging along, and Archie had shot back with something equally rude about second-string linebackers. Sully had turned the color of Mrs. Langham’s prize-winning American Beauty roses, and the other guys had sucked in their breath with a collective whoa.

The point wasn’t what Sully said or what Archie said. A decade later, Archie couldn’t even remember—people had called him plenty worse since. The point was, Beau had watched the exchange in frowning silence, then turned to Archie and drawled, “Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?”

Everyone had laughed—though probably not Sully or Archie—and somehow from that moment forward, Archie’s position as Beau Langham’s sidekick had been cemented in Heceta High’s social hierarchy.

But the truth was, Archie wasn’t anybody’s sidekick. He had not seen any future for himself in Twinkleton. Even when, for a brief period, he had believed there was a future for himself and Beau, he had not pictured it happening in Twinkleton.

And Beau had not been willing to consider a future anywhere else.

So really, their relationship had always been doomed.

Archie had come to see that. He assumed Beau had, too.

Given that Beau was the one who’d pulled the plug.

Which was why Beau’s previous hostility had been so baffling. And why his subsequent cessation—seeming cessation—of hostilities was nearly as puzzling.

The youthful Archie had been confident he knew Beau Langham as well as one person could know another. The adult Archie wondered if he’d ever actually known Beau at all.

It was all water under the bridge now.

There was no going back. And, in reality, there had probably never really been a way of going forward.

But if they could find a way to work together for the brief time Archie was in Twinkleton, that was all to the good. Archie needed Beau’s help and Beau damn sure needed his, with all due respect to the peace officers of Twinkleton PD.

Unfortunately, though, Archie was not a genius profiler in a weekly TV series. He could not read over a police report and a handful of interview notes and instantly come up with a brilliant deduction. Frankly, he wasn’t sure legendary FBI BAU Chief Sam Kennedy would be able to wring much out of this skinny case file.

Both Leo Baker and Priscilla Beckham brought up the conflict with Professor Azizi as well as Jon Monig’s claims that John was his father. Mila Monig brought up the situation with Professor Azizi but, perhaps understandably, did not mention her son in any context.

It was a relief to Archie that no one came right out and accused him, although several witnesses mentioned he appeared strained and agitated when asking about John’s whereabouts. Desi and Arlo both described him as “off,” although Desi tactfully observed that was normal for him. Judith was the only person who actually described him as “wild-eyed.”

But then, most people who had to spend much time around Judith looked wild-eyed.

No one had suggested he was responsible for John’s death, so presumably that theory had surfaced after the reading of the will. There was a note that Judith had phoned Chief Langham, but Chief Langham’s notes were not included. Either because Beau was sparing Archie’s feelings (unlikely) or choosing to keep some of his cards to himself (highly probable).

The notes on Archie’s interview were also not included, so he was definitely getting a curated version of the case. It made sense from Beau’s perspective. Archie would have done the same.

He read every single witness account, every word of every interview, pored over the crime scene photos, and came to the inevitable conclusion that it was still early in the investigation.

Typically, the next steps would include re-interviewing witnesses or persons of interest (besides himself), following the forensic trail, analyzing John’s phone and financial records, and searching for additional witnesses—oh, and coordinating with outside experts. Like the FBI. Which Beau was sort of doing by giving Archie access to the file, although they both knew that wasn’t really the same as contacting the Bureau’s regional field office.

Beau had not specifically said Twinkleton PD had issued a BOLO on Azizi, but it was an obvious step.