Page 17

“He said that Coulter had gotten his heart broken,” she clarified, speaking slowly so it would seep into my partner’s thick head. “So, it was pretty obvious that it was a sore subject. But it was also years ago. There was no reason to talk about it.”

“So Coulter didn’t mention that Kylie had recently gotten engaged?” Oscar asked, redundantly. His tactic seemed to annoy Corinne as much as it did me.

Her gaze leveled on Oscar. “No,” she said with intent. “As I told you, I never heard him mention Kylie at all.”

“I understand,” I said as soothingly as I could. “Have you ever known Coulter to have a temper?”

Corinne shook her head adamantly. “Not in the least. Coulter is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. All Trevor’s brothers are as kind and respectful as Trevor is. Their mother raised them right.” Her gaze turned to fix on Oscar with a condescending look which said, without saying, Unlike you .

A chuckle erupted from deep in my throat, so I cleared it. She’d used the same words I’d thought about what was wrong with Oscar earlier. Corinne and I could be besties. “Has Coulter had a girlfriend while you’ve known him?”

“No. He doesn’t really talk about girls much. But dating in the Keys isn’t easy. And he works all the time. It never seemed strange to me that he wasn’t exactly on the hunt for a woman. Not that he’d have trouble getting one–he’s a great guy. But it’s tough in a small town.”

I could relate. Throwing myself into my work and faintly hoping the right guy would come along someday seemed to be my strategy too, because I sure wasn’t looking for him.

“So you’ve never actually seen how he treats women?” Oscar smirked.

“I’ve seen how he treats me. And his sister.

And many other women at the marina or when we’re out.

I’ve seen him chatting with girls in a bar and he was always kind and considerate.

” Her hands folded on the desk as she took a deep breath.

“Listen, I know you’re just doing your job, but trust me, you guys are barking up the wrong tree.

Coulter wouldn’t hurt a fly. He loves his family, and worshiped his mother.

He’s super protective of his sister, of all his siblings, really. ”

“How protective is he?” Oscar spoke up again. “Would he hurt someone to keep a loved one safe?”

“Wouldn’t we all?” Corinne squared her shoulders and looked directly at Oscar. “Aren’t you capable of violence to stop someone from harming someone you love?” She looked back at me. “I’m saying that there is no way Coulter would hurt Kylie. He would have protected her. That’s just who he is.’

Corinne singing Coulter's praises just solidified my gut feeling about him. He was a genuinely good guy.

“How has he been since he got the news of her death?” I asked softly.

“Distraught. I heard him tell Spence he wasn’t sleeping well. ”

“Trouble sleeping, huh?” Oscar perked up. “Has he seemed nervous or anxious?”

I knew what he was thinking… remorse often causes that.

“No, he seems sad. Very sad. It’s obvious that he loved her very much, and he’s devastated that she’s gone. Which I’d say is pretty normal, wouldn’t you?”

The subtle challenge to Ramirez tugged at the corner of my mouth, teasing a smile. “Yes, I’d say so,” I answered. “Do you recall anything unusual about anyone else there that evening?”

“Nothing. It was a lovely night. That’s why I referred to it as the last good day.

” She lifted a finger to her chin, tilting her head like she’d remembered something.

“The only weird thing that happened was the phone call from the Sheriff. He was supposed to stop by after dinner but he called to cancel because there had been an incident, which unfortunately turned out to be Kylie drowned. But we didn’t know that at the time. ”

“How did Coulter react to the call?” I asked.

Her lips pursed as she tried to recall. “He said it was a bummer he wasn’t coming, just like most of his brothers and dad said. The Sheriff is a long time family friend.”

“We’re aware,” Oscar said. “So Coulter showed up later than everyone else– except the sister who’s flight was delayed?”

“Ava’s a pilot. She had just finished a flight. And yes, Coulter arrived at least an hour before she did.

“After everyone else had.” Oscar pressed.

“Not long after everyone else had,” Corinne responded with confidence .

No matter how many ways we asked, Corinne’s answers remained consistent.

Coulter used the dinner as his alibi, but we already knew that Kylie was probably dead before 4pm, when she was supposed to be at work.

There was plenty of time for him to have killed her before going to dinner.

But he’d shown no signs of an incident. Could he have lost himself in rage, killed the love of his life, then pulled himself together and faked it through the night like everything was normal? I didn’t think so.

We couldn’t shake any more info from Corinne, even though Oscar sure tried. We finally left, no closer to knowing who had caused Kylie’s death.

“Did you believe her?” Oscar asked as we headed north back to the station.

Corinne was a calm, collected, reliable witness in my opinion. I decided that responding with a question was the best answer to his challenge. “Did she give you a reason not to?”

“People lie, you know. All the time. If you don’t know that, then you won’t get far in this profession.”

“I’m well aware, Detective. But my gut feeling was that she was truthful. If you have reason to believe otherwise, other than your own intuition, then I’m all ears.”

But he didn't have a word to say for the short ride back to the station, and I was grateful. I’d heard enough from him.

Frustration gnawed at me as I returned to my desk.

My old office chair creaked as I leaned back and pulled out the file to review it one more time.

The timeline didn’t preclude Coulter as a suspect.

But other than those stray prints in strange places in the mother’s house, there was no evidence that he’d been at the scene either.

I logged on and printed out the updated coroner’s report that had come in while we were gone. Doc had added some extra details.

I underlined a few things: she was barefoot when found, and had some small lacerations on the top of her feet.

Remembering the scuff marks in the pea gravel, I wondered if that’s where she got those scrapes.

Did she walk out without shoes? Or did she have on flip-flops or slip-on sandals that had floated away?

Doc had also found some faint bruising around her lips, which might suggest that her mouth had been forcibly covered.

No major revelation, just additional evidence all pointing to murder.

I flipped back through the notes, but there was nothing.

We had to be missing something. I gnawed on the end of my pen again, and silently cursed myself for the bad habit.

I didn’t have a single unchewed pen in my desk.

I liked to believe that it helped me think, but that was probably just an excuse.

More likely, it was an oral fixation caused by sexual frustration. That thought made me laugh out loud.

As I studied the file, my mind kept drifting back to the look on Coulter’s face when I saw him at Hog Heaven.

When I thwarted Laura’s attempt to get him to sit with us, there was a hurt look in his eyes, like I had just kicked a puppy.

The other thought that kept returning was how hot he looked on stage playing guitar.

I’d never been one for the bad-boy-rocker type, but seeing Coulter like that stirred something in me.

Corinne’s description of Coulter as a family man, touting his devotion to his mother and sister, made him seem more real. For a single man pushing thirty, that was really something in this day and age.

“You still think your boyfriend’s innocent don’t you?” Oscar’s condescension jolted me from my thoughts, but his psychic tendencies were disturbing. I stared at him silently as he continued. “He is still our prime suspect. Everything points to him.”

I sat up straight and tossed my mangled pen onto my desk.

“Let’s take this in the conference room,” I sighed, dreading this conversation, but it was time to get it out in the open.

Oscar was a misogynistic, alpha male, who thought women had no place in law enforcement.

His continued, targeted attacks on Coulter felt more like a personal vendetta than an objective investigation.

Clearly, he could tell I had a soft spot for Coulter Rodman, which was fine for him to call me out on.

But calling him my boyfriend was just unprofessional.

“Detective, let’s keep things in perspective,” I said cautiously as I closed the conference room door.

“Just because I’m trying to be objective in my investigation and consider all possible scenarios, doesn't mean that I’m crushing on a suspect.

And, quite frankly, it’s offensive that you would imply that I am. ”

Oscar waved off my grievance. “I’m just kidding, Detective. Don’t get your knickers in a wad.”

I didn’t even bother to respond that it was entirely inappropriate to be talking about my knickers right now.

This guy was beyond help. He’d apparently missed all the training modules on gender equality and sexual harassment.

He paced back and forth, finally stopping.

“Your intuition won’t hold up in court,” he snapped, folding his arms. “We need hard evidence. And right now, all the evidence points to Coulter. Hell, even the fingerprints came back pointing to him.”

I bit back a retort, knowing it was useless to argue. But as I stared at the file in my hand, I knew Corinne was right… It was the wrong tree. Coulter was the wrong suspect. Yes, it was just my intuition. But I was as sure of it as I was that in just a few hours the sun would set in the west.