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“You can see the bruising around her ankle, but also higher up on her calf. And there are some scratches here.” Dr. Graham gestured to an area thankfully out of Cody’s line of sight. “And here.”
“So, she struggled,” Lucia said. “But was she in the water when it happened?”
“It’s a guess,” Dr. Graham said, “but I would say yes. She was being held underwater by someone below her.”
“Or something,” Clarabell said.
Lucia, Zenona, and Dr. Graham looked at her. Cody wanted to tell Clarabell to shut her damn mouth so they could hear what Dr. Graham had to say and get the fuck out of there.
“I beg your pardon?” Dr. Graham said. “Are you suggesting an animal did this?”
“I’m suggesting something not quite human,” Clarabell said, and she looked between Lucia and Zenona. “And don’t try to tell me you two ladies haven’t been thinking the same thing after everything this town has been through.”
Dr. Graham looked at Zenona. “Is she quite all right?”
“Not quite,” Lucia said, but she let out a long breath. “But she’s also not quite wrong. What about the husband?”
“He has the same marks,” Dr. Graham said as he moved to another drawer, leaving Claudia Sykes on full display, much to Cody’s discomfort. “Only his marks are on both legs. And his bruising is much deeper, indicating more pressure was used to keep him beneath the surface.”
Dr. Graham pulled another body out for display, this one Devin Sykes, his eyes closed but his mouth partially open. Cody had to force his gaze away from Devin’s face to a spot on the wall across from him. It had suddenly gotten a lot colder inside that room.
“He was a swimmer,” Demmy said, his voice quiet and small. “A diver, actually.”
“Right,” Lucia said with a nod. “And he also used to swim out at the pond quite often.”
“I remember he was a good swimmer,” Zenona said. “Really unusual for him to have drowned.”
Dr. Graham looked at Clarabell. “If this wasn’t done by another person, what are you suggesting?”
“Don’t know yet,” Clarabell said. “I’ll need to do some digging.”
“Digging?” Dr. Graham looked at Lucia and then Zenona. “Where would one do that kind of research in a town like this?”
“Library for starters,” Demmy said. “Oliver and I tried that earlier, but weren’t able to get it done.”
“Tracey didn’t let you in to the room?” Lucia asked.
“She wasn’t there.”
Lucia nodded.
“I have a lot of notebooks in my car,” Clarabell said, looking over her shoulder at Cody and Demmy. “I’ll just need a place to set up shop.”
“Um, no,” Cody said. “We’re not operating an Airbnb for monster chasers.”
“Monsters?” Dr. Graham said, but no one acknowledged him as everyone began talking at once.
Finally, after a lot of back and forth, and much regret on Cody’s part, it was decided Clarabell would stay in his and Demmy’s guest room. Cody wanted to put an end date and daily rate to the arrangement, but Demmy kept cutting him off.
“At least do some damn grocery shopping,” Cody said as they all headed for the swinging doors.
“Groceries?” Clarabell scoffed. “Hell, let’s just go to Margie’s, and I’ll pay.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They really did make an odd group sitting around a table in Margie’s. Demetrius took a moment and allowed the full extent of everything they had gone through the last several years rise up inside him. Sure, most of them had known each other from high school, but there were new additions to their band of weirdos like Jugs and Agatha, and Oliver and Clarabell. As Demetrius looked around the table littered with empty plates and half empty plastic tumblers, he felt a little rush of affection for each and every person.
The affection sizzled into a bright flare of heated passion when he met Cody’s gaze directly across the table. Cody raised his eyebrows in a silent question, checking to see if Demetrius was all right. He reached across the table, his big hand covering Demetrius’s and warming him in the chill of Margie’s air-conditioned diner.
