Page 28 of In Cold Blood

She took another swig and narrowed her eyes.

“So what about the key then? Why did you have it?”

She answered instantly, “Simple. It’s my place.”

“You said it was Luke’s.”

“Sure did. For the amount of time he used it, it might as well have been. However, it’s mine. That’s what I meant. Bought and paid for by me but with a verbal agreement that Luke would buy it once he’d finished working on a case.”

“Why did he want it?”

“Said it was a gift for Kerri.”

“Huh. She said that he was ready to move.”

“Yeah,” Alicia said, tapping one of the log cabin walls. “I’ve had it for five years. Figured I would use it as a second property. With my work, I’m on the road more than I’m home. I usually stay in town but if I’m out this way and the weather is bad in the winter months, I crash here. Anyway, it turned out to be more of an investment than anything else.”

He cocked his head. “How so?”

She clarified. “Renting it out to tourists. Airbnb. Quite profitable. At least I was doing that until your brother showed an interest. Luke said he wanted a property near the water. He wanted to rent it for a while with the hopes of eventually buying it if he liked it. You know — try it out. He said he wanted to keep the arrangement all hush-hush, and if he decided to move ahead, he would let me know closer to the end of the year.”

“Why hush-hush?”

“A surprise for Kerri. But…” she trailed off and Noah picked up on it.

“But what?” he said.

She met his gaze. “It was just a little odd.”

“In what way?”

“Well, there are other cabins around the lake that were for sale and a few others for rent. He was adamant that he needed this one. He said he liked the view.”

Noah nodded. “You didn’t believe him?”

“No, I did. I mean it kind of made sense. I was already renting it out. He said he would make me a good offer if I gave him a discount for long-term use.”

“How long?”

“Six months, maybe a year. You don’t get many tourists wanting it that long. There are months when no one is here. It’s just…”

She looked upstairs and squinted.

“The attic?” Noah asked.

“You’ve seen it?” she replied.

He nodded. That was the second question he was about to get to. “I was going to ask you if you knew what he was working on.”

Alicia began to make her way up the steep staircase to the second floor. Noah followed. “You removed the lock.”

“I couldn’t find the key… I’ll buy you another…” he trailed off for a second before shifting topics. “Listen, the photo of my ex-wife, her brother, her father, and all the rest of it. Why does he have it? What the hell was he investigating?”

She shrugged.

Noah looked back at her, hand on the ladder before going up. “Don’t screw me around.”

“I’m not,” she said. “I never locked it. Luke did. Like I told you, a bad element had come into the county. Luke busted a few key players in some large drug operation. He ruffled a few feathers. I told him he was barking up the wrong tree and that it would only get him and his family hurt but he wouldn’t listen.No, he had this big theory that it went deeper than just a few local deals. That was the case he was working on.”