“Give Kris money.”
“Yes.” Billy was sitting in the chair, slumped down, his hands in his pockets.
“Your family couldn’t stay in town because they couldn’t raise the child and keep your reputation as the Saint of Summer Hill.”
“More or less,” Billy said. “The truth was that back then I was so upset about losing Terri that I couldn’t think about anything else. When my parents said we had to leave town, I begged Terri to go with us. Pleaded.”
“So I heard,” Nate said in disgust. “You made a real spectacle of yourself with all your theatrics. What people saw was their beloved yo-yo boy begging the daughter of the town’s infamous adulterer. And she was saying no. To them, you were the innocent one and she was the monster.”
“I wasn’t aware of any of that. I thought only of myself, not of the two girls whose lives I was ruining.”
“Where’s your child?”
Billy looked away for a moment. “My daughter was stillborn at seven months, two weeks and three days.”
“But your parents gave Kris the money anyway?”
“Yes. At my insistence.”
“And she and her mother returned to Summer Hill and bought a florist’s shop.”
“Eventually, yes. First, she went to college. I think she wanted to prove to everyone that she was more than just the town drunk’s daughter. And also, there was gossip about why they’d left so abruptly after Rodney’s death.”
“His death sure came at a convenient time, didn’t it?”
“No one ever asked about that. It was a taboo subject. After his death, they were free. Kris and her mother flew to Oregon. My parents met their plane and took them to the apartment they’d rented. They were given the best of care.”
“And Kris got to see a different way of life.”
“She did. She and my mother bonded a bit. She’d always wanted a daughter.”
“Meanwhile, Terri was back here in Summer Hill being whispered about.”
“I am ashamed that I didn’t know that. My parents and Mrs. Wilkins were saying that Kris and I should get married and raise the baby together. I was sick about it all.” Billy stopped talking and looked out at the water. “I didn’t know any of it,” he whispered. “Not then and certainly not afterward.”
Nate had had enough experience with people to know when someone was honestly remorseful. To tell this guy what he should have done would serve no real purpose. Sometimes, forgiveness was the best solution.
Nate knew that Billy had been raised in Summer Hill, so he must know people. “I got Della Kissel to help on the case.”
It took Billy a moment to understand Nate’s words—and his tone. Nate wasn’t going to keep on about what had happened. He was going to move forward, not stagnate in the past. “That’s not possible. My guess is that Della is telling people that the way Leslie was found is proof that she was running away with someone.”
“That’s just what she was saying,” Nate said, “but I made her an honorary deputy and sent her to find out who was in cabin twenty-six when Leslie disappeared.”
“Let me guess. Della said Leslie was having an affair with whoever was in that cabin.”
“Exactly. Whatever was going on, I’d like to talk to the man.”
“You think he might have...done that to Leslie?”
“It’s the only lead we have.”
“One thing I know about Della Kissel is that she would do anything for Brody,” Billy said. “When Terri and I were kids, she used to spy on us. One time we found her hiding in a closet in the boathouse. Another time, she was under a table. She said she was looking for her compact. Terri and I learned to search everywhere.”
“And you started going to the Island.”
“She told you about that?” Billy was smiling in memory.
Nate didn’t reply.