The Hiding Place

Chapter Forty-three

Stynes watched as the paramedics loaded Ray Bower into the ambulance and drove off, taking him to Dove Point Memorial Hospital. A good crowd of neighbors still stared, drawn by the flashing police lights and real-life drama. It beat sitting inside on a hot summer night and watching reruns of sitcoms that had originally aired in the winter.

Stynes went back inside the house and found Janet Manning on the living room couch. She sipped from a glass of water, her face wearing a distant, distracted look. Her eyes didn’t track him as he came in and sat next to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She snapped out of it, turning her head to look at Stynes. “I’m fine,” she said. She looked down at the glass of water in her hand as though wondering how it had ended up there. “How’s Ray?”

“Pretty banged up. He has a concussion for sure. Some broken teeth. They’ll X-ray him at the hospital. He’ll be out of commission for a few days. But, all in all, I’d say he’s kind of lucky. It looks to me like his son wanted to kill him. And might have if you hadn’t walked in.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said. “I just showed up.”

“I had a teacher in high school who said ninety percent of life is just showing up.”

Janet didn’t smile. She stared at the glass.

“I have to ask you, Janet-you said something on the phone tonight about Ray Bower killing your brother. Do you want to tell me about that?”

Janet looked up. “I found some things out.”

“Did these things arise from the news I told you earlier?” Stynes asked.

“Yes,” Janet said. “I spoke to my father. He told me some stuff I hadn’t known.” She swallowed hard. Stynes could almost hear the gulp. “And then I talked to Rose Bower, and she provided some more details about the time when Justin died.” She stared at the glass again, as though trying to divine some secret meaning from the water. Then she looked back at Stynes. “It was Ray Bower. He killed Justin that day in the woods. It all goes back to him.”