Luke shifted slightly but didn’t interrupt.
Scout kept his voice neutral.
“And after the breakup, you decided to call the sheriff’s office?”
Katie leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table.
“No,” she said. “I decided to call when I heard y’all were reopening the Caroline Simms case.”
Scout felt Luke’s attention sharpen behind him.
“And why would that make you call us?”
Katie hesitated.
Just enough to make Scout notice.
“Because David told me something once,” she said.
The room went quiet.
Scout didn’t speak.
He’d learned a long time ago people filled silence if you let them.
Katie finally looked up at him.
“We were fighting,” she said.
“About what?”
She shrugged.
“Everything. The way he treated women. The way he thought money fixed everything. The usual.”
Luke pushed off the wall slightly.
“And during this fight, he said something about Caroline Simms?”
Katie nodded slowly.
“He told me if I didn’t shut up, he’d do to me what he did to her.”
Scout’s pen stopped.
“What exactly did he say?”
Katie held his gaze.
“He said he buried her.”
The words hung heavy in the room.
Scout didn’t react.
“Buried her where?”
Katie shrugged again.
