Page 32 of Her Final Hours

It was then she slipped some papers before him. Instantly herecognized it. It was a statement of what happened on that fateful day. “Have you been back there?” she asked.

“No,” he replied. “The Heart Lake Campground is only fifteen minutes south of High Peaks, my father would say. It was the reason why he picked it. He told my mother he could dash back and forth and still do his work. It was the usual excuse.”

Among the many campgrounds dotted throughout the Adirondacks, Heart Lake was a favorite with thousands of people who visited yearly. It offered everything. The vast shoreline stretched around a shimmering lake for swimming and paddling. There were also countless trails nestled in the wilderness that surrounded it. Thirty-two camp sites, sixteen lean-tos, and six canvas cabins. He knew it well. Those who preferred a more comfortable experience could use one of the rooms inside the lodge on the property.

Like his own family, Payton’s family went there most years because it was cheaper than carting them off to Florida and forking out for expensive hotels. In time, Jenna Moulton began joining her, though that was a very different case. When the summer rolled around, her hard-working parents wanted to fly away to international destinations. After doing that one too many times, Jenna asked if she could stay with Payton’s family. They obliged. It was a win-win.

“Couldn’t have been easy juggling the work of a sheriff and a family,” she said.

“No. I don’t imagine it was. I understand now, but back then, I was just a kid…” Noah trailed off as he re-read the statement he’d given police.

“So you lied?” the cop had asked.

“No. Yes. I mean, we bent the truth. We’d done it before,” Noah replied.

“Skinny dipping?”

He’d nodded.

“And you told her parents that evening that you were taking her to your campsite for s’mores?”

“She was staying in the lodge. Yes. As I said, we had done it a few times that week.”

“On the south side of the lake.”

“That’s right.”

At sixteen, he had no idea what might happen to him. Although his father was the sheriff, he could only assume that not even Hugh could stop the law from tossing his ass in jail if it was found that he was to blame.

“And so you swam, and then what?”

“We got out and…”

“You and Jenna?”

“That’s right.”

“And had you been drinking?”

“No.”

“Smoking pot?”

“A little.”

“Before or after you swam?”

“Before.”

“And you say you saw Payton out of the water and toweling off before you left?”

“Yeah. Look, we wouldn’t have left her back there if she hadn’t told us to go on or if we hadn’t done it several days in a row. There hadn’t been an issue before. She was supposed to come back to the campsite for s’mores but….”

“She never showed up. Did you see or hear anyone else out that night?”

“There were others. Teens, I mean, we could hear. Vehicles driving in and out. Some guy was smoking a cigarette.”

“You have a description of this guy?”