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“Reopening the case? You mean Sarah? When was it closed?”
Finn grimaced, scratching his stubbled chin.
“Shit, I haven’t had a chance to tell you or anyone. The coroner ruled Sarah’s death an accident. There won’t be an inquest. The case has technically been closed.”
“Closed?” Zack echoed in amazement, and not the good kind. “Clearly, someone tried to kill Ethan today. He was a link to Sarah.”
Finn held up his hands in a stop motion.
“Whoa, let’s take it one step at a time here. Yes, I agree that someone shot Ethan. That’s clear. It happened. But we don’t have any actual evidence that this incident has anything to do with Sarah. It might. I won’t discount that theory, but I need real evidence, Zack, which is why I might reopen Sarah’s case. But I can’t run around accusing people of things. That gets everyone upset and lawyered up. Then no one talks to me. I have to walk a thin line here between doing my job and not pissing off the taxpayers.”
“Then you don’t think that the shooting had anything to do with Sarah? Why else would he be shot?”
“I said that it’s a possibility, and one that we’ll look into. Right now, all I have is you telling me that Lucy thought that Ethan was acting strangely and paranoid. I have no eyewitnesses, little physical evidence, and a theory that Ethan was shot because his girlfriend disappeared eighteen years ago. There might be other reasons that Ethan was shot. We need to look at all angles here.”
“Do you have a lot of shootings in town?” Zack asked in frustration. “I know I’ve been gone a long time, but I didn’t realize we had that sort of problem.”
“We don’t,” Finn replied. “The last shooting was ten years ago, and it was a domestic issue. Even small towns have those.”
“Are you saying that you think that Jenny might have done this? She was with his parents at the time.”
“Zack, you’re a good friend. But I cannot discuss all my open cases with you. Just know that I’m taking this seriously, and I will be checking out the theory that Ethan’s shooting might have something to do with Sarah. But that’s just one possibility. As a cop, I can tell you that usually the simplest answer turns out to be what happened. Not every time, but often.”
“Have you talked to my father?” Zack asked. “He plays golf with the coroner. They both belong to the country club.”
“I haven’t spoken to your father other than informing him of Lloyd’s statement about Sarah’s parentage. Are you implying that the coroner was paid off? That’s a serious accusation.”
“I’m just saying that everything here comes back to my dad.”
Zack was getting tired of it, too.
“I want the truth just as much as you do,” Finn said. “We’ve barely scratched the surface here in the investigation. I’ll be talking to Lucy, Jenny, and others.”
“You should talk to the guys that are in town for the wedding - Leo, Dave, Alan, and Jay. They might have noticed something, too.”
“I will talk to them,” Finn promised. “Hopefully, forensics will find something. I don’t like unsolved shootings in my town, and I won’t rest until I find out who did this. This is my job. Let me do it. Frankly, this isn’t something a civilian should be looking into. Clearly, it could be dangerous. I don’t want any more casualties.”
That was a clear request for Zack to back off and get out of Finn’s way. He simply wasn’t sure he could do it.
* * *
Zack had dropped Lucy at the bookstore so she could check in with Jane and get some work done. He headed the few doors down to Tate’s ready to have a stiff whiskey while he waited for her. They’d planned to have some dinner at Tate’s, and then go back to her place for the night. Zack wasn’t sure what his next steps were, to be honest. Finn had been clear that this was the responsibility of the police, not a random person.
“I was just going to call you,” Tate said when Zack walked into the tavern. “You have a visitor looking for you.”
Tate pointed to one of the side booths where, to Zack’s surprise, his former coworker Gary was sitting drinking a beer and munching on fried cheese sticks.
“How long has he been here?”
“Not long. I got busy and didn’t get a chance to send you a text. He said that when you worked together, you told him about this place. That’s why he came here first. He wants to talk to you, I guess. Is he from the firm you work for?”
Tate didn’t know about Zack quitting.
“No, he used to but now he’s with a different company.”
“I’ll send over a beer,” Tate replied, throwing a bar towel over his shoulder and striding back to the kitchen area.
“I didn’t expect you,” Zack said, sliding into the booth across from Gary.
