Page 109 of It's a Wonderful Knife

“Do you think it’s one of us?” Chloe asked, her face pale.

Elle scowled. “I don’t believe that for a minute. It has to be someone from the outside.”

“How though?” Mona frowned. “We’re the only ones here. The river has been impassable.”

“The homeless man got through,” Ezra said. “If he could get on the property, others could too.”

“That was a fluke,” Mona said.

“Was it? Maybe there’s a whole homeless encampment out on the property.” Ezra stroked his beard, looking thoughtful. “It’s not like we’d know.”

I held up my hand. “I… I don’t think it’s a random homeless person.”

“Why not?” Jax asked suddenly.

I turned to glance at him and found he’d moved closer, his gaze guarded. “Because it was the same knife that killed Santiago.”

“What does that prove?” Jax challenged.

I studied him. “Itprovesnothing. But whoever it was who killed Richard had a key to the padlock on the reindeer barn. Odds are that person isn’t a random homeless person.”

“They had a key?” Mona looked startled. “That’s not… possible. Leo gave you the key, Royce.”

“Yeah. Obviously there are other keys,” I said gruffly.

The group muttered uneasily for a few moments.

“Once the local cops get here, they’ll be able to hunt down things I can’t begin to. Fingerprints. DNA. They’ll be able to trace the knife used in the murders possibly. The killer will be caught.”

“Thank goodness,” Elle said. “The sooner, the better.”

I cleared my throat and prepared for things to get really uncomfortable. “Who was missing from the group about a half hour ago?” I asked. “Most of you were in here picking a movie, but who wasn’t here?”

Max turned to Jax. “We saw you come in right as we did.”

“So?” Jax’s gaze was defiant. “It’s not illegal to walk on the property.”

“You used to be one of the few people Richard talked to, Jax.” I held his gaze.

“And your point is?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Whoever stabbed Richard had to be someone who he didn’t feel threatened by. The killer was someone who could get close enough to him to stab him.”

Jax gave a harsh laugh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You thinkIkilled Richard?”

“You were friendly with him, and you were out on the property during the time of the stabbing.” I pinned him with my gaze.

“I wouldn’t say we were friendly,” Jax said.

“Okay, but you were outside just now.”

“So were you and your boyfriend,” he rasped. “You don’t see me throwing accusations around.”

“You wouldn’t by any chance have a key to the padlock on the reindeer barn, would you?” I asked, ignoring his comment about me and Max.

Jax’s face tightened. “I might have one. I have keys to just about everything around here. I have to because I handle a lot of stuff.”

“He’s not wrong.” Ezra scowled. “Jax does handle a lot of things for the farm.”