Crowned and Moldering

“Aw, come here,” he said gruffly, and wrapped his muscular arms around me.

I couldn’t help the tears as the memory of losing my friend took over. But as Sean’s warm hands rubbed up and down my back and he murmured words of sympathy, I realized that even in his misery, he was more interested in soothing my pain than in wallowing in his own.

Finally I broke away and stared up at him. “Let’s go talk to Eric. He’ll help—I promise. And we’ll both feel better if we talk it through and take some action.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said. Biting back a smile, he added, “You’re the boss.”

I slugged his arm and heard a deep chuckle echo inside that burly chest of his. It was the best sound in the world.

*   *   *

I watched Sean carefully as he glanced around at the pale green walls of the police department’s interrogation room. He took in the thin brown carpet and the utilitarian conference table and chairs before turning to glare at Chief Jensen. “I want Sha

I already knew what Eric would say, but I waited patiently for him to tell me to get lost. I felt bad, though, because poor Sean sounded like a little kid begging for his mom to stay with him. I knew he would be fine without me, but it hurt to realize that he’d never had anyone be there for him. Except Lily. And with that realization, I prepared myself to fight Eric’s decision.

“Sure, she can stay,” Eric said.

My eyes widened in shock. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He pointed to the seat at the far end of the small conference table. “Just sit over there and don’t say anything.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, holding up both hands. “Don’t worry. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”

Seriously, you could’ve knocked me down with a feather. I’d been involved in several murder cases since Eric had moved to Lighthouse Cove, and whenever I’d tried to fill him in on some background info or share my opinion or suspicions of something or someone around town, he’d given me a hard time. I couldn’t blame him, since he was adamant that civilians shouldn’t be involved in police activities. But still, if you had information to give to the police, shouldn’t they welcome it? I had a sneaking feeling he was trying to protect me, so I suppose I could appreciate that. Sort of.

Meanwhile, this was a real switcheroo. A good one. Especially for Sean. He seemed even happier than I was that I was being allowed to stay in the room with him.

It made me think that Eric really meant it when he said he only wanted to have a conversation with Sean, not an interrogation. So that was a relief. I mean, I understood why Sean would be the first person Eric wanted to question, but I had to admit I was also concerned. Was Eric suspicious that Lily’s sweet-natured brother might’ve been the one who hurt her?

I was pretty sure that this would simply be a fact-finding mission and that Sean would be able to go home in a little while, where he would have to deal with his own personal new world order: namely, his sister Lily was dead and he could no longer go through life hoping that she would return someday.

And wasn’t that depressing?

I made a mental note to get in touch with Wade and see if he and the guys would take Sean out to di

Eric sat down at the table and placed a manila file folder in front of him. “I called ahead and asked a clerk to pull all the records on your sister’s disappearance. I haven’t had time to read through them, but I will.”

“That’s good,” Sean said, staring uneasily at the thin folder. “Doesn’t look like you’ll learn much from the cops who investigated Lily. They didn’t go beyond the basics, but maybe they wrote up some background info that’ll help.”

Eric’s lips pursed in thought for a moment. “I want to apologize to you for my predecessor’s sloppy work.”

Sean blinked a few times, clearly as surprised as I was. “Oh. Well, uh, that’s okay. Not your fault.”

“No, it’s not. But it pisses me off when I hear about cops doing shoddy work. It makes us all look bad.”

“Well, thanks for that.” Sean nodded, discomfited by the chief’s clear admission. “I appreciate it.”

“I do, too,” I said, even though I’d promised to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t help it, though. I was so pleased by Eric’s words.

“So, let’s talk about Lily,” Eric said, and flipped open the folder.

Within minutes of skimming the pages, Eric found the date Lily was reported missing. “It says that your sister Amy called the police to report her missing. Where were you?”

Sean had that stubborn look on his face again. “I wasn’t home.”

“Away at camp? Visiting relatives? Where were you?”

I gave Eric a dark look. He was starting to sound like an interrogator. He ignored me.

“Do you remember where you were, Sean?” Eric continued. “This was a pretty memorable moment in your life. Can you remember what you were doing when you heard the news that your sister had disappeared?”

“I remember.” But Sean clenched his teeth together and I was afraid he would refuse to answer. Within a few seconds, though, his shoulders sagged minutely and he relented. “I was in the county juvenile detention facility over in Ukiah. I was there for ten days. I didn’t know Lily was gone until I got home and Amy told me.”

Eric might have had the most professional poker face ever, but I caught a fleeting look of relief in his eyes. Nanoseconds later it was gone, replaced by the stoic gaze I was used to seeing whenever he was holding his cards close to his vest.

I had no such poker face. I almost jumped up and cheered at the news that Sean had an alibi. Not that I ever doubted his i

While Eric and I might’ve been happy at the news, Sean looked completely mortified. Was it because he’d been forced to confess the news of his incarceration to the chief of police? Or was it the fact that his boss—me—was sitting in the room with him? I hated that he might be worried about what I was thinking.

“I remember you used to get into trouble,” I said, trying to sound casual. “But after Lily left, it seemed you straightened up pretty quickly.”

“I had to,” he said. “I realized that if I hadn’t been such a screwup and had been around more, Lily might not have left. So I needed to clean up my act in case she came back someday. And I also needed to protect Amy.”

I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I know you’ve blamed yourself all these years, but I hope you know that it wasn’t your fault. You’re a good brother, Sean, and a good friend. I’m really proud of you.”

He brushed away tears. “You should probably stop talking, boss. Otherwise I’m going to start blubbering like a baby and we’ll never get through this.”

My own tears were threatening, but I was smiling. “Okay, okay.” I made a zipping motion across my lips. “Quiet as a mouse.”

As the two men talked, I wondered whether the coroner had arrived at the lighthouse mansion yet. Tommy and a uniformed officer had volunteered to wait while Eric drove back to the station to interview Sean. Would the coroner immediately recognize that the skeleton was that of a seventeen-year-old female? I’d heard that the size and shape of the pelvic bone was the clearest way to detect gender. Were there other ways?

Would he be able to determine that the MedicAlert bracelet had been worn by the victim? What if Lily’s bracelet had fallen off somehow and the victim was clutching it when he or she died? Maybe Lily was alive and the bracelet had slipped down the dumbwaiter shaft to land in the pile of bones. Anything was possible, right?