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“What was the information he planned to sell to me?” Ambrose asked, his tone sharpening abruptly.
Jodi flinched and took a step back. “I don’t know. Honest. He just said it had something to do with one of the overnight sleep studies.”
“Why did he choose the asylum as a meeting point?” Ambrose asked.
“I dunno.” There was a shrug in Jodi’s voice. “He liked those creepy old ruins. He said something about being able to control the ground. Emery talked like that sometimes. I told you, he used to be in the Army.”
“What did you do when you realized he wasn’t coming back?” Pallas asked.
“Nothing,” Jodi said. “Well, I cried a lot at first. I told myself he’d scored really big and decided to put me and Carnelian in the rearview mirror. But the more I thought about it the more I couldn’t convince myself that was what happened. I told you, we had plans. Today, when you showed up asking about him, I decided maybe he hadn’t left me after all. Maybe something bad happened to him.”
“What do you think happened to him?” Pallas asked.
“I think he was murdered,” Jodi said, her voice breaking.
“What about a body?” Ambrose asked.
“See, that’s the part I can’t figure out,” Jodi said. She widened her hands. “There isn’t one. I went out to the asylum and looked. I’m not a cop, but I thought there might be blood or something. On TV the people who buy and sell drugs always use guns or knives. There should have been some blood.”
“Maybe the killer cleaned up the scene,” Pallas suggested.
“I don’t see how,” Jodi said. “There’s no running water out there. No way to hose down the place. It seems like it would be hard to clean up a lot of blood.”
“You’re right,” Ambrose said. “People who do drug deals don’t worry a lot about hiding the dead bodies. They view them as advertising.”
“Maybe whoever killed him dumped the body into the bay or in one of the coves,” Pallas suggested. “That would be a way of getting rid of the evidence.”
“Not for long,” Jodi said. “I’ve lived here all my life. Every year there are a few drownings and suicides. The bodies always wash up onshore. It’s the way the currents work along this section of the coast.”
“Are you sure you aren’t telling us all this because you want to be on theLost Night Filespodcast?” Pallas asked.
“No.”Jodi flinched again. “I don’t want anyone to know I’m talking to you. Why do you think I followed you into this stupid alley tonight? If Emery was dealing and if it turns out he was murdered, the cops will look at me. They’ll think I know stuff about his drug business. They might even decide I’m his business partner. That would give me a motive for murder.”
“Yes, it would,” Ambrose said. “What do you want from us?”
“I just want you to find out what happened to him.” Jodi’s voice cracked a little. “I need to know if he’s dead or if he left me.”
“We are going to pursue this investigation,” Pallas said.
“I’m glad.” Jodi sounded relieved. “Thank you.”
“Just to be clear,” Ambrose said, “we’re not doing any favors here. If you want us to keep you in the loop we’re going to need some information.”
“What kind of information?” Jodi said. “I just told you everything I know.”
“We need the name and address of the other patient who checked in for a sleep study the night I spent at the clinic, the woman in room B,” Ambrose said.
“Why?” Jodi asked, bewildered.
“It’s part of our investigation,” Pallas said, going for a smooth, reassuring tone.
“Oh, okay, I guess.” Jodi paused. “We’re not supposed to give out any information about the patients.”
“We need something,” Ambrose said. “A name. An address. A vehicle license plate. A phone number. Anything.”
“I don’t understand,” Jodi said, her voice tightening again.
“We think she disappeared,” Pallas said.
