for details about the investigation in ’71. And finally how Beverly, at the mention of Troyer’s name, had recommended he talk with this retired cop named Joe Coffin.
“Oh, that’s the other thing Troyer wanted me to tell you,” Teddy recalled. “That he and this ‘Joey’ Coffin were pals.”
Which wasn’t, Lincoln thought, how Coffin himself had described it. Yes, after Troyer got in trouble in Wellesley, the Coffins had taken him in for his senior year—information that Lincoln had to pull out of him—but he didn’t have the impression that the boys had become friends, despite living under the same roof. “They were apparently teammates back in the day,” he told Teddy. “Won something called the Island Cup that I’m told is a big deal locally.”
“So you think this guy Coffin came out here to warn Troyer that you were nosing around?”
“Either that,” Lincoln said, trying to think it through, “or after our conversation he got to thinking.”
“About Troyer’s history with women.”
Lincoln nodded. “That, but also about the three of us. Coffin said that if he’d been in charge of the investigation back in seventy-one, we would’ve been his chief suspects. As he put it, we had motive, means and opportunity.”
“What motive?”
“He figured maybe we lured her here thinking she’d put out for us and were disappointed when she refused.”
Teddy looked ill. “Does he still believe that?”
“He claims not to. If we’d done something to Jacy back then, why would I be snooping around now? And what kind of sense would it make for all three of us to return to the scene of the crime forty-four years later? No, here’s what I think happened. Our conversation triggered something. It can’t be a coincidence that a few minutes after we said goodbye, Coffin drove right out here and started interrogating the guy, can it?”
“So,” Teddy said, “you do think Troyer was involved?”
Lincoln massaged his temples. “I did yesterday, after learning about his issues with women. I mean, a lot of people here seem to think he’s dangerous. It felt like all of the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. And it explained some things.”
“Like?”
“Well, one reason that investigation didn’t yield any results is that it took so long to get going. Once the cops heard Jacy was getting married, they figured she’d gotten cold feet and run off. We did, too, that first month or so, right? All along we’d taken it for granted that she and Vance were getting married. They were engaged, after all. But after she disappeared, all that changed. Suddenly her marrying Vance didn’t compute. She never talked about the guy or seemed to miss him when they were apart. They disagreed about everything—where they’d live, whether to have kids or not, you name it.”
“The war, too.”
“Right. But if Troyer’s involved, that’s all irrelevant.”
“Except there’s a problem. Troyer claims Mickey broke his jaw with that punch and he had to go to Boston to get it wired shut.”
Lincoln nodded. “Coffin interviewed him a week or so after we all left the island, and it was wired shut then.”
“Which means he might not’ve even been on the island that Tuesday.”
“I know. Today, the whole thing feels like a fever dream. Basically I wanted him to be a murderer because he’s an asshole, and it doesn’t work that way.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Tell me something,” Lincoln said, his mind zigzagging. “Anita says our coming out here was my idea. Is that how you remember it?”
“More or less. You and I talked about it first, and Mickey wasn’t hard to convince. We didn’t think Jacy would come, not with the wedding just a few weeks off.”
“I don’t even remember inviting her.”
“That’s because I did.”
“Really? You’re sure?”
Teddy winced, as if the memory were painful. “Yeah, I have a pretty clear recollection, actually. She answered the phone there at her parents’ place, and her voice sounded strange, like I’d woken her up. Then she asked me to repeat my name, as if she’d already forgotten who I was. But when I said again who it was, she was really happy, like I was the answer to a prayer. Neither response felt right, somehow. Anyway, my plan was to pitch the weekend as one last attempt to convince Mickey not to report for duty, but she said she’d come even before I got the chance.”
“I guess I was thinking along those same lines. Maybe her agreeing to come didn’t have anything to do with us. What if she was just looking for