U Is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone 21)

“Pretty much. I mean, I think so.”

“Can’t we talk just as easily out here?”

“I guess.”

We stared at each other for a moment.

“I’m ready anytime,” I said.

“I was trying to think how to say this. Remember when we were standing around by the road while the officers were digging?”

“Thursday of last week. I remember it well.”

“A bunch of people parked their cars and got out, curious about what was happening.”

I said, “Right.” Mentally, I leaped past the foreplay, guessing at his intent. I anticipated his mentioning his sister, Dee, as in Diana Alvarez, trying to offset any damage she might have done by regaling me with his tall tales of sexual abuse. I nearly brought her name up myself in hopes of heading him off. I was so close to interrupting, I nearly missed what he said.

“I caught sight of a guy I thought I knew and later I realized he reminded me of one of the pirates. I only saw him for a second and I really didn’t make the connection until yesterday. You know how it is when you see someone out of context? This guy looked familiar, but I couldn’t think why. Then it came to me.”

“One of the two pirates,” I said.

“Exactly.”

I allowed myself time to absorb what he’d said, trying to block the impact of his sister’s revelations. In that split second, I understood how completely my perception of Sutton had been tainted by what she’d told me. Even as I resisted the pull, my response to him was skewed by the notion of his tentative hold on the truth. She’d sworn he’d come around again and, sure enough, he had, offering me a new twist, the next installment in a drama that would otherwise be dead.

“You’re overthinking this,” I said. “The guys were burying a dog.”

“I know, but I went over the incident and I wondered if they might have switched the dog’s body for Mary Claire’s after I interrupted them.”

“Switched bodies? And then what? I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

“Well, if I’m right and the guy saw me at the same time I saw him, wouldn’t he realize I was onto them? Why else would the cops suddenly be digging up the hill? He’d know the police were getting close and who else could have tipped ’em off but me?”

I closed my eyes briefly, forcing down the irritation that was surging up my spine. “Sutton, honestly, you’ll have to forgive my reaction, but I think you’re beating this to death. You were six. That was twenty-one years ago and there’s no evidence whatever that the scene you stumbled on had anything to do with Mary Claire. It’s pure conjecture on your part. Why can’t you admit your mistake and let it go at that?”

The color came up in his cheeks. “You think I’m wasting your time.” I don’t like being transparent so naturally I denied what he’d said. “I didn’t say you were wasting my time. I understand your concern, but I think it’s misplaced. You can’t be this paranoid.”

He stared at the ground and then looked up again. “I wanted you to have the information in case something happens to me. I didn’t know who else to tell.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“But in case it did. That’s all I’m trying to say. I’ve seen the guy somewhere, but it wasn’t recently.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “I don’t believe you’re in any danger, but what do I know? If it makes you feel better, go ahead and tell me the rest. What did he look like?”

“He was kind of light-haired and not too tall and he was wearing a suit.”

“Can you be more specific? There were six or seven guys out there who fit that description.”

“Not that many. I’d say three, not counting the officers.”

“But it still doesn’t help. The information’s too sketchy and it does me no good,” I said. “I mean, I thought it was pure genius on my part that I found the burial spot based on the flimsy information you gave me the first time out, but I have my limitations . . .”

I stopped. Sutton was watching me with a look of such mute pleading that I relented. “But enough about me,” I said. “What about his car? Did you see what he was driving?”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t paying attention. I only noticed him when he’d already parked and he was standing by the road. Next thing I knew, he was gone again.”

I stared at him.

“Sorry,” he said, sheepishly. “I see what you mean. I haven’t given you much to go on.”