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His office. He blinked. Up ahead, a red light slowed the line of traffic, and he braked. His office. No, the mill. The old part of the mill. The original building, now half-crumbling into the river, unused for the past twenty years except to store machine parts too valuable to junk. No one went there. The doors locked securely, to prevent vandals from getting in and trashing the place. There were windows, but they overlooked the Millers Kill, the river that gave the town its name. No one could get close enough to hear a single voice over the rush and fall of water over the dam and into the millrace.
It was perfect. And it was his.
For the first time on the worst day of his life, Shaun Reid gri
Suza
Bo
Suza
Clare’s stomach clenched. “Questioning him on what, Mrs. Castle?”
Suza
Bo
“He asked me to get him a lawyer as soon as possible. To meet him at the police station.” She turned to her daughter. “Should I call Woodrow Durkee?” Suza
“I think we need to contact a criminal lawyer, Mom.”
Suza
Bo
Clare hesitated. “I don’t think I ought to be recommending a lawyer for your dad. That’s a huge decision.”
“It doesn’t have to be permanent. All we need right now is someone who’ll be with Dad when he’s questioned. Someone who will know what to do if Dad… if the police decide to charge him. So Dad doesn’t have to stay in jail.”
Suza
Bo
Clare blew out a resigned breath. “The junior warden at my church does criminal defense work. His name’s Geoffrey Burns. I can call him for you.”
“Mrs. Castle?” A well-built man in scrubs stood in the entrance to the waiting room.
Suza
He smiled, displaying perfect white teeth. “I have good news. Becky is out of surgery and doing well. We’ve caught all the bleeding. I want to keep a close eye on her kidneys for the next few days, but she’s young and strong, and I think there’s an excellent chance she’ll pull through with no permanent damage at all.”
Suza
Dr. Gupta smiled understandingly. “She’s in recovery right now,” he told Bo
“Thank you,” Bo
“Do you have any questions?”
Clare waved a brief “excuse me” and retreated to the other end of the waiting room, out of earshot. She fished her cell phone from her pocket. Fortunately, she had her junior warden’s home and office numbers saved in her phone’s address book. Unfortunately, no one answered at either location. She left messages for the lawyer to call her as soon as he could. He was probably, she realized, at St. Alban’s, helping to set up for the bishop’s visitation. She should head over there herself-catch Geoff Burns in person and spend at least some time aiding the volunteers.
She was about to return to Suza
“Hello?” she said.
“It’s me,” Russ said.
“I thought you might be Geoff Burns.”
“What a horrible thought. Why?”
She glanced at the Castles and sat down, turning away from them. “I’m here at the hospital with Suza
“Ah.” There was a pause. “You heard, then.”
“Are you going to arrest him?”
“I don’t know. A lot’s going to depend on the autopsy. We’re still not sure how he died.”
“Why do you think Ed did it?”
“I’m not sure he did. He was in the house when I got here. Said he followed one of the trails back to the old part of the camp-the burned-out buildings I told you about?”
“Uh-huh.”
“He said he found Eugene there. Lying in the grass.”
“What do you think?”
“Somebody used the garden cart to move something heavy from the house to the old buildings this afternoon. There’s a raw track cutting through the trail and dirt stuck in the cart’s tread.”
“You think Ed killed Eugene and tried to hide his body?”
“Maybe. We’re waiting for the crime scene team to arrive. They’ll set up for prints and pictures and tracks. We’ll see what they say.”
“Are you going to be questioning Ed yourself?”
He sighed heavily. “I can’t see handing the job off to anyone else.”
“I can. Ask Lyle to do it.” Russ’s deputy chief was the most experienced man on the force. “You shouldn’t have to do it yourself. Ed’s a friend of yours.”
“I don’t think so. Not anymore.”
Her heart ached for him. “Oh, Russ.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Stop it.” She curled her feet up under her in the squishy seat, tuning out the rest of the world. “Do you want to talk about it?”
There was a pause, and she could picture Russ pinching the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses. “Not right now. Kevin’s taking Ed to the station, and I need to be here while the team works up the crime scene.”
“Later.”
“Where will you be?”
“If the Castles don’t need me, at St. Alban’s. Or the rectory. I haven’t done anything to prepare for the bishop’s visit tomorrow.” She brushed a clot of dried leaf rot off her pants. “Or to get ready for this di
“You’re going to be at the new resort tonight?”
“Yeah. My friend Hugh Parteger was invited. He works for an investment bank in New York City. You met him at Paul and Emil’s last year.”
“Oh, yeah.” Russ’s voice was devastatingly unenthusiastic.
“His firm wound up investing in the resort, so Hugh’s driving up this afternoon for the grand-opening celebration.” She tried to keep her voice neutral. “I’m going as his date.”
There was a long pause. Somehow, she didn’t think he was rubbing the bridge of his nose this time. “Nobody drives up from the city for a party and then turns around and goes home,” he said. “Where’s he spending the night?”