“Everything okay?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No. My dad’s been arrested, or taken in for questioning, or something. I need to go. Sorry for cutting this short, and it was really nice of you to come make sure I’m okay, but I’ve got to pick up my mom and see if we can do anything for my dad.”

  “I understand. Go make sure everything’s all right. And let me know if there’s anything I can do, all right? I feel bad because I was the one who dragged you into this in the first place.”

  “Don’t. I’m sure my dad would have been dragged into it either way. Bill was his best friend, everyone knows they were practically brothers. I’m mostly just worried about what this is going to do to him. Not only did he lose his best friend, but now he’s being accused of killing him? It would be like a punch to the gut for anyone.”

  She grabbed her things, told Betty a quick version of what had happened with a promise to catch her up later, then hurried out to her car for the second time in as many days.

  She and her mother pulled into the police station’s parking lot an hour later. Neither of them had spoken much on the drive, and Angie’s fingers ached with how tightly she had been gripping the steering wheel.

  She shut off the engine and went around to the back to get her mother’s walker out, trying not to show her impatience as she waited for her mother to get out of the car and start walking toward the building. She wanted to be inside, doing something, not out here feeling useless.

  Inside the small police station it was warm and comfortable. It was an older building, with none of the bullet proof glass and metal detectors that she had seen at police stations down in California. There was a young woman behind a desk who looked familiar in a vague sort of way. It wasn’t until she looked up and met Angie’s eyes that she realized who it was.

  “Maggie?”

  “Who — Ange?”

  “Yeah, it’s me. Your dad mentioned you worked here, but this is still a surprise. Wow, it’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you too.” She smiled. “I was going to call you, but I wanted to give you time to get settled in first.” She blinked, as if just realizing where they were. “Why are you here, anyway? Not in town, but at the police station.”

  “My dad’s here,” Angie said.

  “Oh. Oh!” Maggie turned in her swivel chair and picked up a phone, dialing an extension. “Dad? The Seavers are here. Okay, I’ll tell them.”

  “What’s going on?” Angie asked as her friend hung up the phone.

  “He’s just about done talking to your dad. He wants me to bring you back to interrogation room two. It’ll probably be a few minutes before he’s ready to talk to you. Do you or your mom want coffee or anything?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll have some water if that’s all right,” her mother said. “Did he want to talk to me too?”

  “He didn’t say he did. Do you want to take a seat out here? I’ll get you your water.”

  Maggie got up from her seat and slipped through a door. By the time Angie’s mother was settled in one of the hard-plastic chairs against the front wall, she had returned with a bottle of water and a napkin.

  “Here you go. Come on, Angie. I’ll bring you back.”

  Angie followed her old friend through the same door she had just come through with the water. “I’m a little bit confused,” she admitted as they walked through the police station. “We just came here to see if there was anything we could do for my dad. Why does your dad want to talk to me?”

  “He said he was planning on stopping by the diner to ask you some questions later today. I guess he decided to talk to you now since you’re here anyway.”

  “Does he really think someone killed Bill?”

  Maggie shot her a look out of the corner of her eye. “Ange, you ate dinner at my house at least twice a week when we were younger. You know my dad. Do you really think he would drag your father, someone he’s known for twenty years, in for questioning if he wasn’t sure?”

  Angie sighed. “I just… I can’t believe someone murdered Bill. I know it’s not my dad, but that still means it’s probably someone else I know. It feels unreal.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her friend’s face was filled with sympathy. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think your dad did it either. But I’m no detective. I’m sure my dad has a reason for believing what he does.” She opened a door and gestured Angie inside. “Go ahead and wait in here. It shouldn’t be too long. He sounded like he was almost done. And I know this isn’t the best time, but call me, okay? I’d love to catch up somewhere other than inside a police station.”

  “I will,” she promised. “Thanks, Maggie.”

  She stepped into the room and her friend shut the door behind her. She looked around. It wasn’t anything special. The walls were white, and the floor was a sort of beige color. There was a two-way mirror on one of the walls and a camera in the corner. The center of the room boasted a table and two chairs, with a third chair sitting off in the corner. She took one of the chairs at the table and nervously drummed her fingers on the surface, regretting her decision to decline Maggie’s offer of a drink. It would have been nice to have something to do with her hands.

  She had been worried she would have to wait a long time, but only a few minutes passed before the door swung open again and Mr. O’Brien walked in. Detective O’Brien here, she thought. Angie gave him a tight smile as he took the seat across from her.

  “Hey, Angie. How are you doing?” he asked.

  “Worried, mostly,” she admitted. “Detective, I know my dad didn’t do it. He’s a good guy, and he’d have no reason to kill his best friend.”

  He held up a hand. “We’ll talk about your father later. Right now, I just want to hear from you. Have you remembered anything else about yesterday? Something that might have slipped your mind in the moment? I know my officers already asked you some questions, but nobody was treating the death like a homicide yesterday. Sometimes different details come to light when you learn that foul play was involved.”

  “I… I can’t think of anything. I’ve never been questioned about a crime before, so I don’t know if this is okay to ask or not, but how do you know he was murdered, and it wasn’t just an unfortunate dog sledding accident?”

  “My suspicions were raised due to the nature of the wound on his head. I can’t tell you more than that.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I know it’s a terrible situation all around.”

  “I just don’t understand how anyone can think my dad would do something like that.” Her throat felt tighter, and she took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. She wanted to make amends with her parents, not see one of them carted off to jail.

  “Were you aware that your father and Bill had a falling out just a few months ago?”

  She blinked. “No. He didn’t say anything about that.”

  “I know you’ve been out of town for a long time, Angie. Did you talk to your parents often?”

  “I… I video chatted with them a few times a year. Called my mom a couple times a week just to talk, but my dad… it was pretty much just the video chats with him.”

  “Then I’m not surprised he didn’t mention it. I only know about it because he spent a week stomping around the diner and I asked him what was wrong after the third time he splashed coffee out of my mug because he set it down too hard.”

  “What was the fight about?” she asked, trying to envision a scenario where her father and his best friend stopped talking.

  “Dogs,” the detective said simply. “According to your father, Bill borrowed one of his dogs to round out his team for a race in Canada, and when he brought the dog back, he told your father it had accidentally bred with another one of his dogs. Your father told me he doesn’t believe it was an accident, because Bill had asked him only a couple months ago if they could do the breeding that year. Your father wanted to wait until next year to see how Bill’s dog matured. She’s pretty young if I remember, only about a year and a half old.”

  “So Bill borrowed one of my dad’s dogs and bred it without permission?” Angie frowned. It was hard to wrap her head around, but she could see how something like that might lead to a fight between the two of them. They were both passionate about their dogs and the sport. “Wait, was the dog’s name Oracle?”

  “I don’t remember,” the detective admitted. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I told your dad it wasn’t worth losing a friendship over, and he should make amends and move on.”

  She frowned. “Well, if the dog that Bill bred without permission was Oracle, I think my dad took your advice. He mentioned something about a litter of puppies that’s due soon, and I know Oracle is the sire and one of Bill’s dogs is the dam. My dad didn’t seem upset at all, he even had a home lined up for some of the puppies. He and Bill were going to give some to a guy my dad’s mentoring.”

  “I’ll ask him what the dog’s name is when I go back to talk to him,” O’Brien said. “Look, I appreciate that you want to clear your father’s name, but we’re getting a bit off track. I need you to walk me through yesterday again. Start from the moment you woke up, and go through the entire day. Don’t leave anything out. Even the smallest things — something your dad said before he left the house, his reaction to Bill’s death, or how the body was positioned when you saw it — could help. If your father is innocent, a clear and concise timeline will do nothing but help.”

  Angie sighed and closed her eyes, trying to remember every detail of the day before.

  10

  It was another couple of hours by the time they were done at the police station, but as far as Angie was concerned, it was all worth it because her father ended up coming home with them. He was still a suspect. She knew that the only reason Detective O’Brien let him go was because he didn’t have enough evidence to legally keep him there. Still, it was a relief to have all three of them in the car as they drove home that evening.

  The ride was awkward and silent. Her mother, exhausted, was dozing in the passenger seat, and her father was sitting in the back, fuming. Angie kept her eyes on the road, ready for the day — for the week — to be over.

  “Well, here we are,” she said as she turned off the engine, desperate to break the silence. “Home sweet home.”

  “I’ll help your mother in. Will you go unlock the door, Angie?”

  She did as she was told, blocking the cats from the doorway as her mother and father climbed the steps to the porch. Once they were all inside, the three of them gravitated to the living room where they sat in silence on the couch. After a few minutes, Angie couldn’t take it anymore.

  “I’m going to go make tea,” she said. “Does anyone else want some?”

  “I’ll take a cup. Thanks, dear,” her mother said.

  She got up, only to halt in her tracks when her father said, “Angie, wait. I need to talk to you about something.”

  Finally, she thought. I’m going to get some answers. Oh, my goodness, what if he really did do it?

  She turned around, trying not to show her trepidation. “What is it?”

  “You don’t need to go in to the diner tomorrow. I’m going to spend the day there. I need to clear my head, and I always think best when I’m there.”

  She blinked. “Is that it?”

  He nodded. “I’ll take some tea too.”

  “All right.” Disappointed, she headed toward the kitchen. It seemed that her family really hadn’t changed at all in the years since she had left. Whenever anything bad happened, it was met with silence and distance, and it seemed the worse it was, the deeper the silence ran. She knew from experience that any questions she asked would just be deflected, any answers she wanted would have to be dug out slowly and painfully. In many ways, it was easier just to pretend everything was okay than to risk the resentment her father would show if she tried to actually talk to him about something important. Business as usual in the Seaver family, she thought with a sigh.

  With an unexpected day off, Angie decided to keep a promise to an old friend. She called Maggie shortly after she woke up the next morning and made plans to get together after her friend’s shift ended that afternoon. She spent the hours before their get-together shopping for the little odds and ends she needed to make her room feel like home.

  When she got to the coffee shop, her friend was already there, seated at a table by the window with a steaming latte in front of her. Angie made a detour to the counter so she could order her own drink, then joined Maggie.

  “Hey,” her friend said. “How are things going?”

  “Remember when my sister passed away?”

  “Of course.”

  “About half as bad as that.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. That’s… still pretty bad. I’m sorry if my dad’s making things harder for you guys.”

  Angie shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I know he’s just doing his job. Plus, I wouldn’t blame you for anything he did even if he was being a jerk.” She nudged her friend. “Let’s talk about something else. How long have you been back?”

  “Since summer.” Maggie sighed. “I felt like such a failure crawling back to my dad after the divorce. He told me Brian was no good. I should have listened to him. I mean, I’m glad I didn’t, because I have Josh, but still… the whole thing was a mess.”

  “I can imagine. I’m really sorry for not being better at keeping in touch, Maggie. You deserved more than a couple emails a year. I didn’t even know you’d gotten a divorce until your dad told me.”

  “That’s not just your fault,” her friend said. “I could have reached out more.” She smiled. “Let’s just put all of that behind us, okay? We both suck at being long distance friends, we admitted it, now let’s pick things up where they left off.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Angie said, returning the smile. “So, tell me about your kid. What does he like to do? How is he adjusting to being here? It’s so weird that I’ve never met him, but he’s been this huge part of your life.”

  Maggie laughed. “You’ll like Josh. He’s a good kid. He was having a tough time at his old school, so I don’t think he minded moving too much. Loves his grandpa. I know he wants a dog, but I don’t think we have time for one. I told him maybe a cat, if he keeps his grades up this semester.”

  “You’re so lucky,” Angie said. “I’d love to have kids one day. But I think there are a few steps that have to come first.” She chuckled.

  “Well, did you leave someone behind when you moved here? Someone special?”

  “Not really. There was this one guy… he and I dated for a while, and I used to think he might be the one, but it didn’t work out. We were starting to talk again, but I moved back here before anything could ever come of that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Angie shrugged. “It’s okay, really. I liked him, and we got along great most of the time, but there just wasn’t… passion, I guess. He’s someone I can see myself keeping in touch with, but I don’t really see us getting married anymore.”

  “I know you haven’t been here long, but is there anyone local who’s caught your eye? My dad’s a horrible gossip, and he knows everyone, so I could dish on anyone you’re interested in.”

  She laughed. “I’ve been here literally three days, Mags. I don’t move that fast. I mean, Malcolm seems nice and he’s definitely my type, but dating is the last thing on my mind now. Really.”

  “Malcolm? That single dad?”

  “Yeah. I was surprised to learn that he was divorced and has kids. He doesn’t look it.”

  Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Do I?”

  “No! I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. He just… doesn’t look like a dad.”

  Her friend laughed. “I know what you mean, I’m just messing with you. Yeah, he seems nice. I don’t actually know much about him. My dad’s brought his name up a couple of times. I think he’s trying to subtly nudge me to start dating again.”

  “If you’re interested in him, I’ll consider him completely off limits, I promise,” Angie said.

  “No, no. Really, I’m not even close to being ready to date again. You go for it if you want to. How did you meet him, anyway?”

  “He lives just down the road from my parents. Right next to Cheryl and Dave’s property. He spotted Bill’s dogs running loose and came to the diner looking for help.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know he was involved with all of that. I wonder if my dad will end up dragging him in too.”

  “In for what? As a suspect, you mean?”

  Maggie nodded. “I know he spoke to both of your neighbors already. I think the only reason you aren’t a suspect is because you’ve been gone for so long. There’s really no conceivable motive for why you would want to kill him. Plus, you’ve got a pretty good alibi if you were at the diner all morning. I know you found the body, which would normally put you right at the top of his list of suspects.”

  “Technically Malcolm’s the one who found the body. He was leading the way and he’s the one who spotted Bill and pulled off to the side.”

  Her friend frowned. “I see.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, it just seems kind of suspicious, doesn’t it? He just happened to find Bill’s dogs, then he also found the body. And I doubt he has an alibi, since he works from home?”

  “How do you even know that? And I could have just as easily found the body. It was just chance that he was in the lead.”

  “I told you, my dad’s been pushing me to date. I think he thinks a divorced dad and a divorced mom would be the perfect match. Anyway, you’re probably right. One thing I don’t understand is why Malcolm came all the way out to the diner to look for help instead of just going out to search himself. It must have taken almost an hour to get from your road to the diner and back again, and that’s a long time to wait if you think someone might be hurt.”

  “He said he didn’t know the trails very well and was worried about getting lost.”

  “Then why was he in the lead?” Maggie asked.

 

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