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What was I saying about my life being complicated?
“I’ll be back at the detachment in ninety minutes.”
It isn’t couched as a demand, but I know what he’s saying.
“I’ll be there.”
Colton
“Appreciate you coming into town, Colt.”
I shake hands with Terry and take a seat.
While he’s recording the conversation, that we’re one-on-one tells me he’s keeping this informal.
Wise man.
“Also appreciate you not lawyering up.”
“I have nothing to hide. Whatever you need, I’ll help with.” I shove a paper bag at him. “These are the letters Lydia Armstrong sent me.”
“Let the record show that Colton Korhonen has passed me a paper bag with…” He pauses to count them. “…twelve letters. When did this start, Colt?”
“That’s not all of them. The first ones I received I thought were a joke so I tossed them out. Looking back, I think it’s when Lydia first learned she’d have to move. So, last November?”
Terry scans the letters, his brows lifting higher the more he reads. “She got nasty.”
“Fast. That’s why I hung onto them.”
“She thinks you’re a murderer.”
“I assume she meant Marcy.”
“Earlier, you said you never dated Marcy Armstrong?”
“No. She was a lot younger than me.”
“I notice they’re handwritten.” He eyes me over the letter. “Would you be able to provide us with the footage of Lydia dropping off the letters?”
“Yes.”
I’ll have to figure out how for myself. No way I want Callan involved in this mess. I didn’t like him knowing about the letters, and this situation is only going to keep on deteriorating.
As he scans the notes, he grunts. “We have no idea what happened to Marcy. Her calling you a murderer?—”
“Look, I didn’t know Marcy. At all. You remember back then. I was in university and trying to keep Callan from falling apart after Mum left.”
Terry pulls a face. “I remember. The EMTs came?—”
“Exactly.” The word is harsh. “We managed to hush that up. Let’s not bring it to light again. But he was my priority. Not sleeping with some barely legal kid.
“I don’t mean to sound facetious, Terry, but I’m a Korhonen. What the name doesn’t pick up, the wallet does.”
“A full wallet and a handsome face don’t preclude someone from being a murderer.”
“No, but who else is missing or murdered in Pigeon Creek?”
“Why didn’t you report the letters to us?”