Page 109 of This is Why We Lied

Will wondered why the guy was suddenly speaking in an accent, but he didn’t press it. “I should tell you I’m here in a work capacity. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking to me about Dave.”

“He didn’t confess?”

Will shook his head, glad that the word hadn’t spread from town yet.

“I’m not surprised, inspector,” Chuck said in another weird voice. “He’s a weaselly vermin. Don’t let him get out of this. He should get the electric chair.”

Will didn’t tell him it was done by lethal injection. “What can you tell me about Dave?”

Chuck didn’t answer immediately. He uncapped the water jug and gulped down half of what was left. He smacked his lips as he flipped the cap back in place. Then he let out a burp that was so putrid Will could almost taste it from ten feet away.

“Dave is a typical Chad.” Chuck’s jokey voice was gone. “Don’t ask me why, but females can’t resist him. The more terrible he is, the more they want him. He doesn’t have a real job. He scrapes by on whatever scraps Bitty throws him. He smokes like a chimney. He’s an addict. He lies, cheats and steals. He lives in a trailer. Doesn’t own a car. What’s not to love, right? Meanwhile, all the nice guys are relegated to the friend zone.”

Will wasn’t surprised that Chuck was an incel, but he was surprised the man was so open about it. “Did Mercy put you in the friend zone?”

“I put myself there, friend.” Chuck seemed to really believe this. “I let her cry on my shoulder a few times, but then I realized nothing was ever going to change. No matter how much Dave hurt her, she always went back to him.”

“You were aware of the abuse?”

“Everyone was.” Chuck took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Dave didn’t try to hide it. He would hit Mercy right in front of us sometimes. An open-handed smack, never a punch, but we all saw it.”

Will held back his judgment. “That must’ve been hard to watch.”

“I spoke up in the beginning, but Bitty pulled me aside. M’lady made it clear to me that a gentleman does not interfere in another gentleman’s marriage.” The stupid voice was back. Chuck leaned toward Will, pretending a confidence. “Even the harshest ruffian cannot say ‘nay’ to such a petite and delicate creature’s request.”

Will finally got what Sara meant when she said that Chuck was weird. “Mercy divorced him over a decade ago. Why was Dave even up here?”

“Bitty.”

Rather than explain himself, Chuck decided to take another swig from the jug. Will was beginning to wonder if it was just water in there. Chuck drained the entire thing, his throat making gulping sounds like a slow toilet.

Chuck burped again before he continued, “For all intents and purposes, Bitty is Dave’s mother. He has a right to see her. And of course Bitty has a right to invite him to every holiday. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Mother’s Day, Kwanzaa. Whatever the occasion, Dave’s always here. She snaps and he jumps.”

Will took that to mean that Chuck was always there, too. “How did Mercy feel about Dave being included in every family event?”

Chuck swung the empty jug in his hand. “Sometimes, she was glad. Sometimes, she wasn’t. I think she tried to make it easy for Jon.”

“She was a good mother?”

“Yeah.” Chuck gave a curt nod. “She was a good mother.”

The admission seemed to take something out of him. He took off his hat again. He tossed it onto the ground beside a black fiberglass rod that was leaning against a tree.

Which is how Will learned that a gaff is basically a four-foot-long pole with a big, nasty hook on the end.

“The property is huge,” Chuck said. “Mercy could’ve avoided Dave. Hid in her room. Stayed out of his way. But she never did that. Every meal, she was at the table. Every family gathering, she was there. And invariably, she and Dave ended up screaming at each other or hitting each other and, honestly, it got boring after a while.”

Will said, “I bet.”

Chuck placed the empty jug beside his hat. Will had a sense of déjà vu taking him back to Dave and the boning knife. Was Chuck freeing up his hands or was he just tired of carrying things?

“The worst part was watching how all of this affected Fishtopher.” Chuck started kneading his back again. “He hated how Dave treated Mercy. He was always saying that he was going to do something about it. Cut Dave’s brake lines or throw him in the Shallows. Dave’s a terrible swimmer. It’s a wonder he’s never drowned before. But Fish wouldn’t do anything, and now Mercy’s dead. You can see how it’s weighing on him.”

Will couldn’t see anything. “Christopher is a hard man to read.”

“He’s devastated,” Chuck said. “He loved Mercy. He really did.”

Will thought he had a funny way of showing it. “Did you go back to your cottage after dinner last night?”