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“It was an avalanche. That’s not murder, unless you’re going to arrest the snow.”
“Don’t joke about it.”
Molly folded her lips together. Sometimes her sense of humor seemed callous to the sensitive Lila. Her bad.
Sam would have thought it was funny, the random thought crossed her mind. Sam was more like her, irreverent and pragmatic. They spoke the same language, in a way, whereas she and Lila had to work to understand each other, despite their long friendship.
“Why do you think it was murder?”
“Because there’ve been other weird unexplained deaths around here. Daniel knew all about the snow. It doesn’t make sense.” She shuddered and tightened the belt of her robe. “Even if I wanted to leave, how could I when I’d be haunted by wondering what happened to Daniel?”
But who’s going to watch out for you? Molly wanted to ask. Who’s going to check on you and make sure you’re feeding yourself and that you haven’t hooked up with another fucked-up guy who’s just going to mess up your life?
But Lila would probably find all of those questions insulting. And maybe Molly didn’t really want to hear the answer.
I’ll be fine without you. You’re the one who needs me, because without me, you’re alone in the world.
Not true. She had Charlie. She had Ani. But it wasn’t the same. Charlie was so self-sufficient that they didn’t even know what she did for a living. And Ani’s main focus was her husband and the family she was desperately trying to create. Lila was the only one who really needed Molly.
Or had. Before she came here.
“If it turns out that Daniel was actually murdered, do you really want to live here?”
“There are murderers everywhere, Molly,” Lila said wisely.
“Yes, but that would mean the murderer to non-murderer ratio is pretty high, since so few people live here. I’d be worried sick if you were living in a remote town with a murderer on the loose.”
That argument seemed to sink in, as Lila nodded slowly. “That would be a bit unnerving. I wouldn’t want Bear or Martha or any of my friends living with a murderer. We have to find out who did it.”
“If I help you do that, will you consider coming back to New York?”
“Maybe,” Lila allowed. And that was enough for Molly. For now.
18
The footage that Buttercup had unknowingly captured during his pee spree around the Chilkoots’ clearing was blurry, jumpy and hard on the eyes. But with his laptop on his glassed-in porch, Sam scanned it frame by frame, even the parts that were just a lens-full of snow. Buttercup-vision was purely a last resort, but he never knew when his dog would just happen to capture a key visual.
And finally, after hours of looking at the same footage over and over, he had a list of six different cameras monitoring the clearing. That seemed excessive considering they lived at the end of a road that no one else used. And then there was the mysterious object on the ground next to the shop that Luke had come out of.
It was half a foot in diameter, like a small metal frisbee. It lay in the dirt in a haphazard way, as if it had fallen off a truck. Maybe that was all it was, a truck part. But it was the only potential clue he’d picked up by way of Buttercup-cam, and damnit, he needed to make the most of it.
The FBI might have equipment that could enhance the image so they could identify it. He made a clip of the video and emailed it to the new agent-in-charge, Tom Bradley.
He pulled out the encrypted phone that was only for confidential communications. I just sent you an image from the property. Maybe you can ID it, he texted.
I’ll get back to you. Bad news on my end. We tried to bring the witness in for another interview and he’s recanting.
Sam had seen that testimony, even had it memorized. He believed the man. But since then, backup evidence had been thin.
This footage might be confirmation that he was right the first time.
Learn anything else out there?
Not much. More kids than you’d think. L claims they make decisions democratically. N is a shut-in.
Naomi’s interest in Molly’s red hair might be something. He kept thinking about how oddly curious she’d been. He might be able to use her interest to wrangle another opportunity to visit the property. This time he’d be better prepared.
I know where their surveillance cameras are now.
