I told Lieutenant Henderson everything I knew, including what I learned after Maureen McIntyre pulled me and Jade out of the river. Norton contacted Miles two years ago, hoping to make amends. Miles was still furious, but when he heard about the Sinclairs and Norton’s life with Camilla, it got him thinking. It was easy to track Bebe down in the city. Miles couldn’t compete with her wealth, but a lawyer with a beautiful teenage daughter was a respectable choice for a middle-aged woman who’d never been married, and Bebe bit. Miles convinced Norton it was better not to tell Jade who he was until she got older. Best not to upset the child. Let her get to know you first, he said.
Miles and Jade fit right into the Sinclair family. Jade got close to Jasper, who treated her like a peer and not the child she was, while Norton got to know his granddaughter after years of estrangement. Miles assured his father all was forgiven. But it didn’t take Miles long to discover Sinclair Fabrics wasn’t the cash cow he believed it to be. He made his move when his daughter finally spilled a secret worth knowing: Jasper was worried his grandmother was too close to Norton and feared Norton would take advantage of her trust.
It never occurred to Norton to manipulate his situation with Camilla. But Miles made sure to explain how much was at stake. If the business went down, the island would go with it. As a lawyer, however, Miles could help Norton retain his access to the land. If Norton could convince Camilla to will the island to him, he could protect it from Bebe and Flynn. The place Norton treasured, which he’d come to think of as home, would be safe. Jasper was the only thing standing in their way. Norton was understandably reluctant. He told Miles he had no intention of signing up for bloodshed. But as his young granddaughter’s infatuation turned into a serious obsession, it was decided. Jasper had to go.
“I know men like Miles,” I said. “He used Norton’s love of the island and guilt about abandoning his son to twist his thoughts. Jasper may have been a great guy, but he was still a Sinclair, and that made him everything Norton could never be—wealthy, privileged, able to provide for a family. Meanwhile, Norton had just gained a son and granddaughter. His luck had finally changed. He didn’t want Jade to end up pregnant and jilted any more than Miles did. Norton isn’t entirely heartless. It was his idea to hide the body so Camilla would be spared some heartache. By the time Jasper disappeared, the will had been changed. The island was his.”
“I’ve seen that will,” the lieutenant said. “It was amended on Fourth of July weekend to name Norton as sole beneficiary of the entire estate.”
“Camilla trusted him. She knew he’d take care of Tern. I’m sure she had visions of life carrying on there the way it always had. Camilla thought she was doing her grandson a favor by taking the estate out of the equation. Money was tearing the family apart, and she didn’t want Jasper caught in the middle.”
Tap. Tap. The tip of the lieutenant’s pen struck the cover of a fat manila folder on his desk. “As you know,” he said, “a team of forensic analysts have been out to the island. They found ketamine in what remained of Camilla’s wine, and also in Norton’s belongings. We’re looking into how he obtained it. Probably off some city kid who summers up there.”
“Norton lived in A-Bay for a long time. I’m sure he’s got connections,” I said. “There are a couple of vet offices in the area, and ketamine’s used as a sedative. Maybe he got it there.”
My knowledge of date-rape drugs caused the lieutenant to quirk his eyebrow again. I didn’t bother to explain I had a personal interest in finding out where that shit came from.
“As for the blood on the sheets,” he said, glancing down at the folder, “the medical examiner collected family reference samples from Jasper’s siblings. It was a match for Jasper, and your initial visual analysis was right. Based on the amount of blood found at the scene, the medical examiner believes Jasper’s condition was grave. That said, we had search parties all over Tern Island, divers in the water, and found nothing.”
Aside from Miles’s body. He didn’t say it. There was no need. Mac had been keeping me abreast of all new developments since the second we got back to shore. Miles tried to save his daughter, but it was too late for redemption. I’d heard Jade was in California now, living with her mother. With Philip Norton at the Clinton Correctional Facility, there was nothing left for the kid in New York.
In the end, it wasn’t Jasper’s body that intruded on my dreams in the nights after I left Tern Island, but Abella’s. The girl had been so inconsequential to Miles and Norton’s plan, but she’d been targeted anyway, and that made her death all the more painful to swallow. The day before I met Lieutenant Henderson to go about the painful task of explaining how a missing persons case became a double homicide, I’d pilfered the Beaudry family’s phone number from the station’s digital files and called Abella’s parents. Their English wasn’t as solid as their daughter’s, but there was no misinterpreting the sentiments they wished to express to the investigator who allowed their child to die.
Surreptitiously, the lieutenant checked his watch. “Well, Merchant, that really only leaves Flynn Sinclair. Wellington says he threatened you.”
There were plenty of excuses to choose from. Tim’s official account made it easy to cover my ass. He’d back me up, no matter what I said. But what I said was, “I don’t know why I shot him.”
“I think I do.” The lieutenant pursed his lips. Again his pen whacked the file—my file—resting under his large hands.
* * *
—
“Bet you’re glad that’s over.”
From his place on the hard wooden bench in the hall, Tim looks up at me, waggles his eyebrows, and smiles. He went in before me, which means he’s been done with the lieutenant for hours. We made the two-hour drive south to Oneida together. When it was my turn, I left Tim outside the door of Troop D headquarters fully expecting him to wait out the grilling at a nearby coffee shop. But here he is.
“It’s over, all right.” Suspended pending psychological analysis. I don’t tell Tim it’s the outcome I was counting on. Instead, I sit down beside him. “Know what I need?”
Tim slides toward me until we’re only inches apart. “I couldn’t begin to imagine what you need right now, Shane.”
“Damn,” I say with a half smile. “Me either.”
Aside from us, the hallway is deserted. It’s so quiet I can hear Tim’s watch ticking on his wrist. The corner of his lip curls into an inquisitive smile. “Buy you a drink?” says Tim.
I haven’t been alone with him since it all happened. I don’t know how he feels about me hijacking the investigation and going after Philip Norton and Miles alone. “You sure that’s what you want?” I ask.
Tim rests his forearms on his bent knees. “I saw a YouTube video once, of a bunch of crickets chirping.”