Page 107 of This is Why We Lied

“What are the rest of them like?”

“Cecil’s mean as a snake. He’ll cut you just as soon as look at ya. Not that he can move like that anymore, but before the accident, he was scary.” Gregg leaned against the freezer. “Fish, he don’t talk much. I guess he’s okay, but he’s weird. Bitty, she burned me real bad. Pretended she was my friend, then I didn’t do something she asked fast enough and she turned on me something fierce.”

“How’d she turn on you?”

“Cut me off,” he said. “She helps me and Ezra out sometimes. Like, if you’re nice to her, she’ll slip you a ten- or a twenty-dollar bill. But now, I walk by and she won’t even look me in the eye. Being honest, with Mercy gone, I’m gonna look for work in town. They already told all of us they’re cutting back our wages on account of they don’t know what’s gonna happen next.”

That tracked with what Will had learned about the McAlpines and money. “Have you ever seen Mercy talking to any of the male guests?”

He snorted. “That’s a funny way of asking.”

“What am I asking?”

His face turned red.

“It’s okay,” Will said. “It’s just you and me. Did you see Mercy with any of the guests?”

“If she was talking to a guest, they were either asking her for something or complaining.” He shrugged. “We’re up here at six every morning, then back down the mountain by nine. There’s a lot of work to do in between meals. Washing dishes, food prep, cleaning. Not a lot of time to watch what people are up to.”

Will didn’t ask him when he found time to go to school. The kid was probably helping to support his family. “When’s the last time you saw Mercy?”

“I guess around eight-thirty last night. She let us go early. Said she’d finish up.”

“Was anyone in the kitchen when you left?”

“No, sir. She was alone.”

“What about the chef?”

“Alejandro left when we did.”

Will hadn’t seen another car on the parking pad. “What does he drive?”

“We all take horses up and down. There’s a paddock yonder down from the parking pad. Me and Ezra double up since it’s his horse. Alejandro went the other way cause he lives on the other side of the range.”

Will would follow up on the paddock. “What do you think of Alejandro?”

“He’s all right. Takes his work real serious. Not a lot of joking around.” He shrugged again. “Beats the guy who was here before. He was always looking at us funny.”

“Did Alejandro spend time with Mercy?”

“Sure, she had to go over stuff with him a couple times a day on account of the guests are real particular about their food.”

“Did Mercy and Alejandro have these conversations in front of you?”

Gregg’s eyebrows went up, like he’d just put it together. “They’d go back to Mercy’s office and shut the door. I never thought about the two of them together. I mean Mercy was kind of old.”

Will guessed thirty-two was ancient to a fourteen-year-old.

“Mister,” he said. “Sorry, but is that it? I gotta get the Hobart going or I’m gonna get my hide tanned.”

“That’s it. Thanks.”

Will waited until the door was closed before going to the standing freezer. The lock was open. He looked inside. Nothing but meat. He walked around the back and spotted Gregg’s stash shoved up against the wall of the lean-to. The trash cans were empty. The area was clean.

No bloody clothes. No broken knife handle.

Will got on his knees and used the flashlight from his phone to look under the freezer.