Page 86 of The Sister's Curse

“Hi, Lt. Koray,” he said.

“Hi, Ross. I hope you’re doing well.” I was honestly surprised he remembered me, given his delirium when I last saw him.

“Getting better. Doc says I should be back to normal in a week or so.” He gave a half smile.

“He’s taking his horse pills on schedule,” Lister confirmed.

Ross made a face. “I have to take these steroid pills, but I haven’t turned into the Incredible Hulk yet.”

“Give it some time,” I said. It sounded like he was being treated, and he had plenty of color to his face. I was relieved.

Lister nodded at his son. “I need to talk to Lt. Koray. Would you be okay with giving us some privacy?”

“Sure.” Ross gave an awkward wave and drifted off down the hallway.

I waited until I heard a door close before speaking again.

“I wanted to tell you that there’s been an incident involving your cousins Amos and Patrick.”

He leaned back against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest. “No, I’m not gonna bail those guys out if they’re in trouble again.”

I looked askance.

“My family treats me like a cash cow,” he admitted. “I’m not doing it anymore. I have a son to look after.”

“I understand. It’s nothing like that, Mr.Lister. I’m afraid Amos and Patrick have died.”

He blinked, and froze. I waited for him to speak again, watching the knowledge register on his face. “Dead? What…what happened?”

“We don’t have the details yet, but they were found in the quarry.”

He sagged forward and covered his face with his hands. “Oh no.”

“I’m so sorry. Were you close?”

“No. I saw them, like, twice a year, at holidays. It…” He shook his head. “Do their parents know? They live out of state. I probably have an address for them, somewhere…”

“Our office will take care of notifying them. I just wanted to talk with you about it.”

He exhaled into his hands. “How did it happen?”

“That will be for the coroner to say, but there were signs of violence. Did they have any enemies?”

He removed his hands from his face and stared at the ceiling. “No. They’re party boys. Most of the trouble they get into is just for stupid pranks—drunk and disorderly, that sort of thing. Took some cars from the dealership, joyriding. They got arrested once for stealing the statue in front of the diner in town.”

I remembered that diner. It had a giant sculpture of a boy in overalls holding a plate of pancakes. At some point, it disappeared in the night and reappeared in a cornfield.

“Everyone likes them,” he whispered. “They never do anything really wrong, just dumb shit.”

He was referring to them in the present tense, which suggested that the news of their deaths was indeed a surprise. I waited in the silence, hoping he would speak more.

When he didn’t, I ventured: “There have been several suspicious incidents involving water lately. They seem to center aroundyou and Jeff Sumner and Quentin Sims. I have to ask you if you’ve made any enemies I should know about, in order to protect you and your family.”

He slipped his hand over his mouth and shook his head. “No. There’s no one you can protect me from.”

It was bad form to interrogate someone during a death-notification call, but I pressed further. “I know the three of you were accused in the disappearance of a girl twenty-five years ago. I can’t help but think that someone blames you and is looking for revenge.”

“I don’t know anything about that. I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath and stood. “Thank you for telling me, Lt. Koray. I have to go make some calls.”