Page 57

“My name is Vera Aguilar and this is my colleague, Teddi Leon. We were wondering if we could ask you some questions about your late husband?” The woman’s light eyes flashed before she huffed, coming to stand.

She was without a lick of makeup, her ochre skin dewy even in the grey atmosphere that permeated each corner of the town. She pulled her dirty gloves off, dropping them at her feet. Her pinky finger stuck out at an odd angle as she tried to close it in her fist. “I heard you two have been wandering around asking questions.”

“We don’t mean to be a bother, I’m not sure if word has gotten around but Sheriff Malis found a body recently.” Mrs. Maller waited. “It was my cousin and I’m just trying to figure out what happened to him, to see why he was in Sylen.”

The large dark wet stains on her jeans didn’t seem to bother her as she cast a glance between the two of them. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“What happened to your husband?” Vera threw out the question like a bad poker hand. Rushed. They were gaining bodies and losing leads with every hour. After Sheriff Malis’ dirty autopsy trick, she was different. Distant and angry. Teddi looked at her and couldn’t find a way in through the hardness. J’s words bubbled back up. Whatever she found, she could take it. She could deal and then help Vera fix it.

Mrs. Maller’s face became pinched, eyes boring into Vera as her voice lowered. “He’s gone.” Two words. No emotion. No sorrow or desperation or loss.

“What do you know about it?”

“It was a hunting accident.”

“Are you sure about that?” Teddi stepped closer, her sleeve brushing against Vera’s as frustration rolled off of her in waves.

Mrs. Maller’s chin lifted, her brow rising in a challenge. “I’m quite sure, now if you’ll excuse—”

“Was he abusive?”

“What kind of question is that?” Her mouth set into a hard line.

“Alex’s girlfriend, Lily, mentioned there had been safety concerns. I’m not sure what ties these men together, Mrs. Maller, but I’m trying to figure out what’s happening in your town.”

“What's happening in our town is two city bitches don't understand that they're not welcome here.” She practically spit the words out. “Now get off my lawn.”

They assumed the victims’ wives would be willing to help. She understood the shame of abuse from working with victims. It was a sensitive, sometimes life or death subject. But her husband was gone. If indeed he had been abusive or invasive like Lily suggested about Alex, neither of them should fear retaliation. That didn’t make speaking about it easy but it should make it safer.

“Everything alright, Danielle?” The front door swung open. All three of them turned to find Elaine Malis stepping onto the porch, two glasses in hand. She looked the same way she had at Lily’s. Pristine and clean-cut. Her hair was pulled off her face and she was dressed in slacks and a button-down. Ever the Sheriff’s wife. Teddi now knew where the source of the leaking gossip was coming from.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. These two were just leaving.” She lifted her chin at them as if they were bothersome flies, not people trying to figure out what happened to her dead husband. Her husband, who was currently rotting in a cold cellar.

“Mrs. Malis.” Teddi greeted her. The woman smiled, handing Danielle her drink before she stepped inside. The door slammed, leaving the three of them alone in the cold.

“Can I help you with something?” The way she said it reminded Teddi of Sheriff Malis. Slightly arrogant. But there was a calm about her that her husband lacked. A deep confidence that held her shoulders back and steadied her.

“We’re trying to see if there’s a connection between Mr. Maller’s death and Alex’s.” Teddi knew there was no point trying to beat around the bush with the woman, she knew she’d see every lie as easily as the bleak sky above them.

Elaine took another step towards them. “I guess I can see why you would think that. Seeing as we’ve had so much death in Sylen lately, when before there was so little. Well, not such death as we’re seeing now.”

“What do you mean?”

The woman paused, an unreadable expression on her face. “Just that we’re a small town. Not much happens here that’s worth noting.”

A shiver like a barbed tongue ran down her spine. What secrets was Sylen hiding? What did each of these women know and refuse to share? Was it so bad to seek their help? To trust outsiders when their Sheriff was dropping their husbands in a hole in the ground?

“We’re not your enemy, Mrs. Malis. I hope you and everyone else who has lost someone here understand that. We want to help in any way we can,” Vera said.

"There's nothing for you to do."

"Don't you all want peace restored to your town?”

Elaine looked back at the Maller’s house, an unreadable expression on her face. “Have you ever seen one of those old drawings of a snake eating its tail? It's a circle."

"An ouroboros?" Teddi asked.

"Yeah, that's the name. You know, the funny thing about nature is that it heals just as it consumes itself. It solves its problems in a way, like that snake. I wouldn't worry so much about things you two can't control. That's not how things work here.” The barbed tongue sank further into Teddi’s skin, sending goosebumps across her body.