Chapter Ten #2
“Which I can confirm with footage from my security cameras. Though with them being mine you’d expect me to know how to get around them, right?”
“Why leave your own party?” she asks Noah.
“There were still some people there,” he confirms. “I can give you names and contact details if needed. But I left because being with Sidney was more important.”
She finishes typing. “Miss Walsh, how close are you to your cousin, Grace?”
“Please just tell me…is she…”
The detective stares at me. Then she sighs and says, “No body has been found. How close are you to your cousin?”
“And it was last night she went missing?”
“Yes,” she answers in a terse voice. “Grace was seen leaving her motel room and getting into her car just after eleven. Now answer the question, please.”
“You probably already know she arrived here a few days ago. Said it was to get out of town after breaking up with her fiancé. I think that part is true. That they broke up. But she wasn’t so much here to see me as to get information and record conversations with me for the people making the podcast and documentary. ”
“The one called Misled?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms over my breasts. Holding myself together seems appropriate.
“Grace said she lost a lot of money from deposits for the wedding, and she was obviously desperate to haul her ass all the way up here. Vermont was somewhere she got sent as a kid. It wasn’t somewhere she tended to visit for fun.
Or at least, not as far as I am aware. But we hadn’t seen or talked to each other since our grandmother’s funeral eight years ago. ”
“You were unaware she was involved with the podcast?”
“I didn’t have a clue. Found her creeping around at some stupid hour of the morning trying to…to find things to give them. Information on me or whatever.”
“What did you do?”
“Told her to get out. That was the last time we talked.”
The officer keeps typing. “There was no further contact via text or messaging or anything else?”
“No.”
She just nods.
“Wonder if one of your people told the media about the connection to me?”
“That must have made you angry,” she says, ignoring my snark. “Grace betraying you like that.”
“We were close when we were kids. But like I said, it’d been a long time. And she did warn me she was broke.”
“But still…”
I just shrug. It’s not my job to help her make a case against me. I’ve probably said too much already. But she has to know she can rule me out as a suspect what with me having an alibi. Hooray for rediscovering sex on this particular night.
“If you weren’t close, why did you let her stay?” asks the detective.
“Because she’s family. I was feeling sentimental. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
Noah pats the dog and stays silent through all of this. His face is a careful blank. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Auggie on the other hand is busy licking a paw. He doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the detective’s presence. At least, he hasn’t growled at her like he did the reporters.
“Have you listened to your cousin’s segment on the podcast?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“How did you feel about her insights into your life?”
“She barely knows me. I don’t know if I would call her comments about me particularly insightful. Though I thought it was nice she pushed back on some of their bullshit.”
“But not nice enough for you to reach out to her?”
“No,” I say.
“Grace mentioned you have a tendency toward violence?”
“She mentioned I have a punching bag as part of a home gym. So do a lot of other people.”
“Yes. But she also said she was scared of you. Did you ever threaten your cousin?”
“No.”
“Then why was she afraid of you?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. “You’d have to ask her that.”
“I hope I get the chance to.”
“So do I.”
The detective pauses. “Grace seemed to think you were searching for the bodies of other missing women. I’m surprised you’d want anything to do with that. Anything that would remind you of your ex. The memories of what happened can’t be pleasant.”
“They had to pry his hands from around my neck. So, no…not my favorite.”
She waits for me to give her more. Then she says, “Any information you might have on the possible whereabouts of missing persons should be turned over to the police.”
“In my experience, the police don’t tend to listen to what I have to say.
I tried to tell them ten years ago. How he would take me hiking.
Some of the places where he liked to stop.
They either wouldn’t take me seriously, implying that I was a stupid girl who spread her legs for a monster and didn’t know anything worth hearing.
I’ll spare you the actual slut-shaming language that was used.
Or else they thought I was somehow involved and was misdirecting them to waste resources. ”
“This is about helping missing women, Miss Walsh. Not you processing your hurt feelings.”
“You’re right,” I say. “It does hurt my feelings when your people harass me.”
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“Easy enough to prove. Check out how many parking, speeding, and other types of fines have been issued to me in the last decade.”
“Have you lodged any complaints about this supposed behavior?”
I don’t bother to answer.
“I called your aunt earlier. She doesn’t seem to be a fan of yours.”
My mouth stays shut.
“She’s driving up from New York now. Should be here by this evening,” says the detective. “Is there anything you can tell me that might help with the investigation?”
I frown and think it over. “He’s been in touch a couple of times lately. Ryan.”
“It’s highly unlikely he has anything do with this given he’s still safely locked up.” She frowns right back at me. “Is that unusual, him contacting you?”
“It’d been about a year since the last time he wrote. He’s never tried to call me before. But he did this morning.” I pause and think it over some more. Trusting the police is an issue for me. Obviously. “His girlfriend has also been hanging around.”
Noah blinks but says nothing.
“You really think they could be involved somehow in your cousin’s disappearance?” she asks, not bothering to hide the trace of disbelief.
There’s a small possibility I sound paranoid. But such is life. “This has to be a copycat, right? Probably someone who’s in contact with him. I know he’s involved somehow. Why don’t you look into those idiots who send him fan mail?”
The detective stands and gives me another of those long looks. Like she’s trying to read my soul or something. She must come up empty since she says nothing.
“A state forest is a big area to search. When do you think they’ll want volunteers?”
“I’d guess tomorrow morning,” she says. “The crime scene and surrounding area will be processed today. Our people are out there looking. But there’s rain forecast for this afternoon.
Having dozens of people tramping through the woods and possibly disturbing any evidence won’t matter so much after that. ”
I just nod.
“But you have to know, given the situation, your presence could well be more of a hindrance than a help.” She heads for the front door. “Thank you for your time, Miss Walsh.”