She seemed to grip the teacup harder, and glanced at the fire. He could see her taking deep, moderating breaths and saying something under her breath. A calming phrase or chant, like she had mentioned.

  “You’re safe with me, Alex. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She gave him a sad smile. “But one day you won’t be here, and I will. ”

  Of course, and what a stupid thing for me to say.

  He stared at the flames, and couldn’t think of any suitable reply to her honest from-the-gut words.

  CHAPTER

  39

  HE LEFT HER THERE BY the fire.

  Devine looked back at the house as he sat in the SUV, his spirits as bleak as the weather.

  The case had its difficulties, but so did every other challenge he’d confronted. No, it wasn’t the case that bothered him so much. It was knowing that no matter what he did he could not make people who were not whole, whole. Not Alex. Not Curtis Silkwell. Not his ex-wife. Not Earl or Annie Palmer. Not anyone whose life had been touched by Jenny Silkwell.

  Including me, and I never even knew the woman.

  He drove to the police station and found that neither Fuss nor Harper was there. But there was a woman he had been introduced to before. Her name was Mildred James, and she handled the dispatch and all the admin work for the department.

  “I’m not sure when they’ll be back,” said James. “Can I do anything for you?”

  He sat down across from her. “You lived here long?”

  “I was born here fifty-nine years ago next week.”

  “Happy early birthday, then. So you know the Silkwells?”

  “Oh sure. Wonderful family. It’s so awful what happened to Jenny. I’m sure her parents are very upset. Well, I heard Senator Silkwell is not well, so he may not… be aware.”

  “You like working here?”

  “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t. There’s never too much to do, I mean nothing that you’d call exciting. And that’s not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. But with more people moving into the area, we are getting more calls and such. There’s even talk of hiring another officer or two.”

  “Were you working here when Alex was assaulted?”

  “Oh, yes. I’ve been working here over twenty years. Thank God whoever attacked her didn’t kill her.”

  I think they killed part of her, Devine thought.

  “What can you tell me about the incident?” he asked.

  “Well, I was on duty and got the call that a woman had been attacked. I took the information and dispatched the response.”

  “Wait a minute, who called it in?”

  “The people who found her.”

  “How did they find her?”

  “Let me think. Yes, they said they were driving past a spot along the coast and they happened to look out and see something lying there. The husband got out to see what it was while the wife waited in the car. He recognized that it was Alex. He ran back to the car and told his wife to call the police, which she did.”

  “And then Alex was taken to a hospital where she awoke but couldn’t remember anything?”

  “That’s right. That hospital has since closed, it was only ten minutes from here, thank God, or Alex might not have made it. Now, she couldn’t give a statement or help in any way. She was clearly in shock and she had a skull fracture. Her life was in danger until they got things under control. The officers searched the area where she was found, but didn’t find any evidence worth anything. And they canvassed for witnesses, but no one saw anything.”

  “Were her parents in town when it happened?”

  “Mrs. Silkwell was, and she rushed right over to the hospital when we notified her. Stayed there all through the night. Jenny came up from Washington to help, too.”

  “And Dak was out of the country in the Army?”

  “I believe that’s right.”

  “And Senator Silkwell?”

  “He flew up straightaway on a chartered plane a friend of his arranged. I actually picked him up at the airport and drove him to the hospital. He was beside himself with rage, guilt, you name it and that man was feeling it.”

  “I understand she had been raped?” Devine said in a low voice.

  James assumed a pained expression. “Yes. I’m not sure Alex remembered that part or any part. The mind is funny like that. But her examination clearly showed that she had been raped. We still have the rape kit after all this time, but we never had a suspect to match it to. We ran it through the usual databases and such but never got a hit. We were all hoping that Alex would regain her memory and identify her attacker if she knew him, or at least give a description, but she never did. Now it’s a very cold case.”

  “Could I look at the file and the evidence?”

  “Why? Do you think it might be connected to what happened to Jenny?”

  “Well, Jenny had come up here on some unfinished business and she had talked to Alex about the attack. And I understand that Jenny’s body was found near where Alex was assaulted.”

  James frowned. “Yes, I thought that was awfully strange. Well, I can’t see how it would hurt to have another pair of eyes on it.”

  She led him to a locked room at the back of the small building and showed him where the files and evidence were located. She had him sign a logbook.

  “There’s a little room with a table just through that door you can use. Just let me know when you’re done.”

  He thanked her and she left him there.

  Devine gathered up the box of evidence and the related files and carried them to the room, where he set everything out. He first unsealed the evidence bags and took pictures of the items inside with his phone. They consisted of Alex’s clothing and underclothing, which was torn and dirty, some hair samples, a pair of women’s sneakers, and the contents of a small bag. They were mostly art-related: a couple of tubes of paint, a brush, a pencil, and a small sketchpad.

  He opened the latter and saw some pencil drawings that she had done. They were all of the coastline or else looking out to sea. They were quite good and demonstrated the natural talent that the woman had exhibited while still in her teens.

  What he didn’t find was the rape kit. He checked the log that was in the box and it showed a rape kit, but he didn’t see anything that looked like it. He was familiar with them because he had worked with Army CID overseas when some soldiers in his company had been accused of raping a local woman. Two of them had been found innocent, one had not. He was currently serving time in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth for his crime.

  He sealed the evidence bags and put them back in the box. He glanced out the window and saw that the rain had started up again. You would be just as wet walking down the street as you would be jumping in the ocean, he figured.

  He went methodically through the files and official statements. Alex had told the investigators that she remembered riding her bicycle along that section of the coast. She was on her way to Jocelyn Point after seeing some friends in town. It was later than she had realized and she was hurrying to get home before it got completely dark. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up in the hospital. There was semen, hair, and other trace on her person from her attacker, but the police never had anyone to match it to. There were no witnesses. Then he got to the part about the couple who had found Alex.

  Their names jumped off the page and seemed to scream at Devine.

  Steve and Valerie Palmer had been the ones to find Alex and call the police.

  Devine checked the date, and then Googled something on his phone.

  The story popped up on his screen.

  Three days after finding Alex’s body, Steve and Valerie Palmer had died in the house fire. The story said that it had been accidental and due to a portable heater being knocked over, probably by the couple’s cat, which had also perished in the fire. It seemed the drapes had caught on fire and the room had been engulfed in flames while the doomed couple had slept. They had apparently been overcome by smoke inhalation because their badly charred bodies had been found in the bed.

  Devine went and asked James about the rape kit. She looked through the box and then through the entire evidence room.

  “My God, it’s not here,” she said.

  Devine looked at the log to see who had last accessed the evidence. The date was from over ten years ago, and while the ink had faded some, Devine could still make out the name and signature.

  Sergeant Richard Wayne Harper.

  CHAPTER

  40

  DEVINE DROVE STRAIGHT TO MAINE Brew to find that Annie Palmer was just leaving. Devine checked his watch. It was after eight. Long, long day for the woman. She had her motorcycle helmet in hand, a rain slicker on, and was climbing onto her scooter as he pulled to the curb.

  “Do you have time to talk?” he asked after rolling his window down.

  She looked flustered. “I was going to check on my grandfather before heading home.”

  “It won’t take long. Just a few questions.”

  She hesitated. “Okay, where?”

  “In here. Out of the storm.”

  They sat in the SUV while the rain clattered against the vehicle’s roof.

  “So, what questions?” she asked, tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear.

  “It’s bringing things up in the past, things that will be painful to you.”

  “I… I don’t understand,” she said, a sense of panic rising in her eyes.

  “It has to do with your parents.”

  “What about them?”

  “They were the ones to find Alex after she was attacked.”

  She stared at him blankly for a moment. “What are you talking about?”

  “You didn’t know that?”

  “No!”

  “Your parents didn’t tell you?”

  “I was at camp when they died in the fire. I’d been there all week. The police brought me home when it happened. It was awful.” She punched the dashboard. “I should have been there. I could have saved them.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for that, Annie. For all you know, if you had been there you would have died, too.”

  “Well, at least we would have died together.”

  “I don’t believe that’s what your parents would have wanted.”

  She looked out the window. “My grandparents took me in and finished raising me. But I never knew about my parents finding Alex. My grandparents never told me. I don’t even know if they knew.”

  “So you knew about her being assaulted?”

  “There were rumors, and I heard things from time to time.”

  “She was also raped.”

  Palmer’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “I didn’t know that.”

  “And no one else in town told you about your parents finding her?”

  “No. Who else knew?” she asked.

  “Well, the police did, surely.”

  “I can’t believe this shit.” She paused and studied him. “But what does that matter now? Whether I knew or not?”

  “Alex got attacked and your parents found her. And from the timeline I looked at they found her pretty much immediately after she was attacked. Then, three days later they die in a house fire?”

  “I must be very stupid, but I don’t see what you’re getting at.”

  “I think they might have seen whoever raped Alex. They could have passed the man on the road, maybe he was running or driving away. The point is, it’s a lonely area. It was getting dark. There might not have been anyone else around.”

  “But if they saw the rapist, why didn’t they tell the police?”

  “That I haven’t figured out yet. I just found out they were the ones who discovered Alex and reported it.”

  “So are you saying that my parents were, what? Murdered?”

  “It’s possible.”

  Palmer shook her head stubbornly. “I just don’t see how that could have happened. My parents were friends with the Silkwells. They would have told the police if they had seen a man running or driving away like that. And if they had, what would be the point of killing them to keep them quiet about what they had seen? The police would have arrested the person or at least talked to them.”

  Devine knew she was probably right about that.

  “The police report says the fire was started when a portable heater turned over and caught the drapes on fire.”

  She nodded. “That’s what they told me, too. I remember that old heater. It wasn’t safe. Mom was always telling Dad to buy a new one. But…”

  “But what?”

  “Well, to tell the truth, my parents were going through some tough times financially. My dad had put all their savings into a business that went belly-up. And my mom had been recently laid off from her job. I heard them talking about maybe losing the house. I think they sent me off to camp before I started asking too many questions. But later I found out the check they’d paid my camp fee with bounced.”

  “What happened afterward?”

  “The bank foreclosed on the house. Luckily I could go and live with my grandparents. Turned out my dad had debts no one knew about. It was a real mess. I was left with nothing.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, then how did you open a business? You had to have some capital to do that. And I don’t think your grandparents had that sort of money lying around.”

  Palmer now looked embarrassed. “I… Dak invested the money for me to open Maine Brew. We had been seeing each other and…”

  “And he liked you and also thought you were a crackerjack entrepreneur?”

  She snorted. “Yeah, something like that, I guess.”

  “You also warned me not to let him get me drunk, that I might regret it?”

  “I shouldn’t have said. If he ever found out—”

  “He will never find out from me,” said Devine.

  The panic in her expression eased as she looked at him.

  “So why the warning?” he asked.

  “We went out one night. I had too much to drink. And I woke up five weeks later and found out I was pregnant.”

  “Did he rape you?”

  “No, he didn’t,” she said firmly. “Dak… is not like that. But his not using protection wasn’t what I had in mind. But I was too effed up to think clearly.”

  “And the baby?”

  “I… went to a place…”

  “Did Dak pay for that?”

  She nodded.

  “I was told that the Silkwell wealth had dried up generations ago. So where did Dak get the money to help you, pay for an abortion, and invest in all these other businesses? He said he had some financial backers in Boston. Do you know who they are?”

  “He never told me. But he’s doing really well. He fixed up Jocelyn Point some and built that art studio for Alex.”

  “He built it for her?” exclaimed Devine.

  “Yeah, about two years ago. You didn’t know?”

  He shook his head. “She never mentioned that.”

  “Well, I told you that anyone who thinks they know Alex is lying. Same goes for Dak. He looks like a tatted muscle-head badass, but he’s actually quite sensitive.”

  “And Jenny? Did anyone here really know her?”

  “She was about ten years older than me, but I knew her. I can’t say I knew her all that well, but I was surprised.”

  “Surprised? By what?”

  “Well, the rumor is she was some sort of spy. You know, hiding things, poker face, pretending to be something she’s not. Well, with Jenny, she wore it all on her sleeve. I think she was the most open one of the bunch. So I don’t know how she made such a good spy.”

  Devine offered to drive her to Earl Palmer’s house because the rain was still pouring down, and she accepted.

  “You can just drop me off back here and I’ll take my scooter home,” Palmer told him.

  A bit later he pulled up to Earl’s cottage and they ran through the rain up to the porch. She had a key and let them in. They searched the entire house but Earl wasn’t there.

  “Do you think he went for a walk?” asked Devine.

  She looked over at the front door. “His walking stick is against the wall. He never goes out without it.” She pointed to a peg on the wall. “And there’s his coat, and the reflective vest I bought him. He wouldn’t go out without those.”

  “Where else could he be?” Devine looked out the window at the small studio. “Hey, I think I see a light from behind the curtains.”

  “What? Really?” She sounded relieved. “He must be in there. Maybe he’s going through some of Bertie’s artwork. I told him it would help with the grieving process.”

  They hurried out to the studio.

  Palmer opened the unlocked door. “Gramps, it’s me. I’m so glad that you—”

  She screamed.

  Devine pushed past her, his gun out and making wide arcs in front of him.

  But then he stopped and lowered his weapon as he stared up at a clearly deceased Earl Palmer hanging from one of the rafters.

  CHAPTER

  41

  WHILE HARPER AND FUSS WENT about their work with the aid of a crew of volunteer EMTs, and Françoise Guillaume readied her instruments for the preliminary processing of the body, Devine stared up at Palmer, still hanging there.

  The image of Sara Ewes came back to him. He had dated her back in New York when he had worked for the investment firm of Cowl and Comely. She had been found hanging in one of the firm’s storage closets. The initial cause of death had been deemed suicide. It had soon turned to a verdict of murder.

  What about you, Earl? Did you do this, or did someone else do it to you?

  With everyone’s help they managed to release Earl Palmer from the noose and lowered the body, where it was initially examined by the two officers.

  Next, a nitrile-gloved Harper stood on a ladder and cut down the rope that had been used, careful to keep the knots intact.

  Devine edged over to where Guillaume was kneeling next to the body, which was lying on a synthetic tarp designed to capture all trace evidence. She used a digital thermometer to test the ambient air temp and then employed a rectal probe to check Palmer’s body core temperature.