The Edge

Chapter 36

The next morning, after his workout and partaking of the inn’s continental breakfast, Devine drove to the police station, where he found Harper and Fuss in the chief’s small office. He eyed the pictures on the wall of tough-looking men in uniform.

Harper noted this and said, “Former chiefs of police here. Way back we had six full-time officers, if can you believe it. But then our population fell off a cliff.”

“It’s going back up, according to Dak Silkwell.”

“It is,” conceded Harper. “The ‘remoters,’ he calls them. They are coming here in droves. I don’t know if it will last, but we’ll take it. Only good thing to come out of COVID, for us.”

“Any news on Jenny’s phone or laptop?”

“We don’t know that she had a laptop with her,” said Fuss.

Devine pulled out his phone and showed a picture he’d taken. “Dust pattern on her desk at the inn. What else could that be?”

“When did you notice that?” asked Harper.

“When we searched the place.”

“And you’re just now telling us?” he barked.

“I thought you had noted it.”

This seemed to make Harper even madder, and he was clearly struggling to keep his temper in check. “How about your folks? Have they traced any of that electronically?”

Devine shook his head. “No, but I got another question.”

“Okay,” said Harper, seeming to brace himself.

“Where was Alex Silkwell attacked all those years ago?”

Harper looked at Fuss, who was now looking at the scuffed wooden floor.

“I was a sergeant back then,” said Harper. “Like Wendy is now. But we had other officers, like I said.”

“Okay. Were you one of the responders? And who called it in? I understand that Alex didn’t. She woke up in the hospital.”

“Why are you asking about that?” said Fuss, now looking at him.

“Because Jenny asked Alex if she had remembered anything about the attack.”

“What?” bellowed Harper. “You mean this time? Who told you that?”

“Alex did.”

“She never told us,” retorted Harper.

“Well, she told me and I’m telling you. So I’d like to know where Alex was found, since it now seems Jenny came up here to look into what happened to her sister.”

“Why, after all this time?” said Fuss.

“I don’t know, but I’d like to find out. So the place?”

“Before my time,” said Fuss quickly.

Devine shifted his focus to Harper, who would not meet his eye. “Chief?”

“It was... actually, it was right around where Jenny’s body was found, as a matter of fact. But in the open field before you get to the trees and through the trail there to the bluff by the water.”

Devine’s expression slowly hardened. “And you never put two and two together?”

“No, I didn’t. Hell, I hadn’t even thought about what happened to Alex in years. Your question just now made me think about it.”

“Come on, you really think they’re connected?” interjected Fuss. “What about the military round found out there? And the person who took a shot at you? And the ones who kidnapped you? They were all foreign folks. They weren’t around when that happened to Alex.”

“I don’t know what to make of all that, yet,” conceded Devine. “But the location being the same for Alex and Jenny? It might mean something. We have to follow it up.”

“You can, if you want,” said Harper. “I have better things to do with my time.”

“Okay. Did you confirm that the round fired at me was a NATO round? I’m asking because even though I found the casing, this case is so screwy when it comes to ballistics I want to make sure the casing matches the round fired.”

“We confirmed it, yes. Told the other feds, Saxon and Mann.”

“Did you check Dak’s alibi for the time Jenny was killed?”

Harper exclaimed, “Why in the world would Dak want to kill his own sister?”

“Oldest motivation of all — money.”

“What money?”

“Dak told me some developers want to buy Jocelyn Point. It would be worth millions. Now that Jenny’s gone, the value of Dak’s share went way up.”

Harper eyed Devine. “Okay, we’ll check it out. Thanks for the info.”

“You’re welcome.”