Page 64 of Hard Heart

“Sure.”

When she glanced back at the house, my spidey senses tingled. What was so important that she had to sneak after us?

“I don’t want to get involved. I can’t get involved because Oryn Jacobs is a real asshole.”

“Who?”

“Everyone knows it was him, him and Robbie Mullen. Robbie killed himself over the guilt, but I don’t suppose Oryn feels any. He’s wrong in the head.”

Robbie Mullen. There was that name again, and Darcy didn’t seem to have a screw loose, unlike Bitsy.

“When you say ‘everyone’ knows…?”

“Everyone who hung with him in high school. My brother was part of that crowd, although he was friends with Robbie rather than Oryn, and I overheard the two of them talking about it.”

“Your brother and Oryn?”

“No, my brother and Robbie. Robbie wanted to go to his dad—his dad is the sheriff—but Oryn bullied him into staying quiet. I think that maybe Sheriff Mullen knew anyway because suddenly, Robbie wasn’t allowed out much anymore.”

“Oryn didn’t get arrested?”

“Nope.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Alive and well and working at the Canned Sardine.”

“At the what?”

“The bar in town. If Sheriff Mullen had arrested Oryn, Oryn would have thrown Robbie under the bus, and Mr. Mullen’s big on family. Robbie wouldn’t have done well in prison.” Darcy scrunched her lips to one side. “Although considering everything that happened, maybe it would have been better if he’d gone there. He might still be alive if he felt he’d paid his penance. For what it’s worth, he always swore he didn’t know Mr. Groveland was inside the house. He was only supposed to be the lookout.”

“Did Oryn know?”

“I don’t think he considered it too much. He just wanted the money.”

“The money?”

“Well, he got paid, didn’t he?”

What the hell? “Paid by who?”

A shrug. “All I know is that one day he had no money, and the next day he had plenty of it. Had to be at least a thousand bucks. Someone probably gave him the fireworks too, because the only place you can buy them here is the feed store, and after Chester Bollinger lost half his hand, they got real fussy who they sold them to.” Darcy backed away. “You didn’t hear it from me, okay? And take my advice—steer clear of Oryn Jacobs if you know what’s good for you.”

When had I ever been good at taking advice? Or doing what was good for me?

“Holy shit!” Heidi squeaked once we were in the car. “Did we just solve a murder?”

“If what Darcy said is true, we’ve solved half of it. Oryn Jacobs killed Groveland, but the person who paid him is every bit as guilty. Solicitation of capital murder is a Class 4 felony. And even if you argue that Groveland was never meant to die, that he contributed to his own death by trying to rescue Pebbles, that’s still criminal solicitation under code 18.1-29.”

“I’ll take your word on that. So, are we going to the Canned Sardine?”

“We really shouldn’t.”

“It would be a bad idea.”

“The worst.” I started the engine and put the car in gear. “Absolutely terrible.”

“I’ll find the directions.”