Page 132 of This is Why We Lied

“I already told Drew that we should move, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Said we were staying right here in the same cottage we’re always in. You know how men can be.”

“I do.” Sara lifted the lid off the tank. Then she felt like she’d been kicked in the throat. She was right about the source of the leak, but wrong about the flapper being worn out.

A jagged piece of metal was keeping the rubber from making a seal. It was attached to a piece of red plastic that was about four inches long and approximately one-quarter of an inch thick.

She had found the broken knife handle.

17

Will watched thermal paper inch out of the portable fax machine like a snail squeezing through a pasta maker. The search warrant for the compound had finally come through.

“Okay.” He pressed the satellite phone to his ear, telling Amanda, “It’s printing.”

“Good,” she said. “I want you to wrap this up within the hour.”

Will would’ve laughed if not for the fact that she could make his working life a miserable hell. “Faith is still with Sara, but they should be back soon. I asked Penny, the cleaner, to set up cottage four so we can do the interviews. Kevin is securing the body in the freezer. The kitchen staff probably saw what we were doing, but they’re knee-deep in meal prep. I think we’ll be able to keep Chuck’s death a secret until dinner at least.”

“I’m still trying to track down the file on Drew Conklin’s assault charge,” she said. “What about the family?”

“Their time is coming.” Will started walking toward the woodpile. He wanted to see it in daylight. “I was steering clear of the parents while I waited for the warrant. I don’t know where Christopher is. I’ll send Kevin to find him once he gets back. Jon’s still missing. I think Sara will peel off to look for him again. The aunt’s Subaru is on the parking pad, so she must be back at the house.”

“There’s more to get from the aunt.”

“Agreed.” Will stood in front of the massive stacks of wood. There was enough split oak to last the winter. “I took a look around Chuck’s cottage. It’s a mess, but there was nothing interesting. No bloody clothes. No broken knife. No eye drops, even. Which isn’t surprising. I went into all the cottages after the murder looking for Dave. If I didn’t see anything then, I doubt I’ll find anything now.”

“Would you find it surprising to know that Mr. Weller has two hundred thousand dollars in a money market account?”

“Christ.” Will had dipped into his emergency reserve to pay for the honeymoon. “I can halfway see why Christopher would be sitting on some cash. He doesn’t have any bills. But what’s Chuck’s story?”

“Very similar to Christopher’s. He paid off his student loans one year ago, almost in the same week. He’s got a fishing license, driver’s license, and two credit cards that are consistently paid off. There’s no next of kin that I can locate. And as with Christopher, this seems to be a recent windfall. I did a deep dive going back ten years. They were both covered up in debt until one year ago.”

“We need to see their taxes.”

“Give me a reason and I’ll give you a subpoena.”

“Stock market? Lottery scratch-off?”

“I looked, and no.”

“The money’s got to be legit. They wouldn’t put it in the bank if they hadn’t paid taxes on it.” Will walked down the stacks of wood. One looked different from the others. “What did Chuck do for a living?”

“I couldn’t find any reference. From his social media, it seems that he primarily spent his time paying for lap dances in strip clubs.”

Will moved the phone to his shoulder to free his hand. “There’s no employment listed anywhere?”

“Nothing,” she said. “He rents a condominium in Buckhead. We’re in the process of executing a search warrant. Perhaps we’ll find any next of kin or paperwork related to his employment there.”

“Look for Eads Clear eye drops.”

“The killer could’ve used a different brand. I left it open-ended in your search warrant.”

“Good.” Will picked up a piece of chestnut. The grain was tight. It was an expensive choice for firewood. “I already searched all the trash bags. I didn’t find anything.”

“How did you manage that with one hand?”

Will had felt like a toddler when he’d asked Kevin to help him put on the glove. “I managed.”

“How many bottles are you looking for?”