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“Of course, every month.”
Zack frowned, stroking his chin.
“Then you wouldn’t have been homeless then.”
Tracy’s face grew even redder, this time more with anger than embarrassment.
“It was a figure of speech. You Winslows are all the same. You think you’re so smart and better than anyone else. We all know what you are.”
The older woman didn’t give anyone a chance to reply, marching out of the station house with one last glare over her shoulder before the door swung shut behind her.
“Wow, that was…”
Lucy didn’t know what that was exactly. The encounter had made all of them tense and awkward. Finn looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
“I’m sorry about that. I thought she’d be gone before you got here. Believe me, the plan was not for you two to meet,” he stated firmly. “She seems to have a chip on her shoulder about the whole situation, and she’s madder than a wet hen that Lloyd spilled the beans.”
“I guess you finally did get to talk to him,” Lucy observed.
“Let’s say it didn’t go as I thought it would,” Finn replied grimly. “I was shocked when he dropped that bombshell. At first, I thought he was lying, but he had details that sounded legit, including telling me about a bank account that Tracy had that Joel would deposit money in every month. I followed up with her, and well, you know how that went. She confirmed it, but then called me a cocksucker for bringing it up.”
“A cocksucker? That’s harsh,” Zack said. “She doesn’t seem to like me either if it makes you feel any better.”
“I got the distinct feeling that she’s mad at the world,” Finn replied. “Listen, let’s go into my office and talk. There are a few things I’d like to go over.”
They followed Finn into his office and sat across from him. He settled at his desk and held up a file folder.
“Blake went through this with you? I wanted to see if you had any questions.”
“Is it really going to be ruled an accident?” Zack asked. “You can’t know for sure. Shouldn’t there be an inquest?”
“If the verdict is inconclusive, the coroner may decide to have an inquest, but that is his decision, not mine. There is no definitive evidence that there was any foul play involved here, Zack.”
“She has a fractured skull.”
“Which could be from a falling branch or a fall down a hill.”
“If there’s doubts you should have an inquest,” Zack pressed. “Get answers.”
Finn sighed and flipped open the file folder, pushing it across the desk in front of Zack.
“Let’s say there’s an inquest. They bring in the photos of where the body was found. We have the coroner’s report. Then what? There are no witnesses. No one saw what happened. Sarah’s own mother swears that her daughter threatened to run away constantly. All her friends thought that’s what happened. Unless someone comes forward with different evidence then we’re stuck here. Cold cases are rarely solved, and there’s a reason for that. Evidence is lost. Memories fade. I want answers, too, but I think you should prepare yourself that we simply may not get them here. I know that you and Sarah were friends, and now that you’ve found out that she’s your sister, you want to help her because you feel helpless about your mom. I get that. But we have to be realistic here. We may never know what happened to Sarah. We can only make an educated guess based on what we have.”
Mentioning Zack’s mother might have been a mistake because Zack hopped to his feet, beginning to pace the small area between the desk and the door.
“I can’t believe no one cares about this girl. She was a person. A human being and something bad happened to her. We know that for sure.”
“I care about Sarah very much,” Finn said softly, his expression sober. “I want to find out what happened to her. I truly do. But I don’t have much to go on here.”
“Then we’ll hire someone,” Zack replied. “We’ll get a private investigator for Sarah, too. There’s a strong possibility their disappearances are linked.”
Lucy’s heart ached for Zack, watching the play of emotions across his face. He was hurting inside, and there wasn’t much she could do for him. He wanted something that no one could give him.
Answers.
“Do you know something that I don’t?” Finn asked carefully. “You said that there was a strong possibility that the two disappearances are linked in some way. Why do you believe that?”
Lucy wasn’t sure that Zack believed it. He’d even said that to her and his siblings. He was grasping at straws, hoping for some sort of clarity in a situation that had none.
