what I’m angrier about. The fact that you shut the door to a metal container and tried to kill two police officers or the fact you didn’t come forward when your sister was murdered. Am I missing anything?”
Candace didn’t answer her questions; she sat with her head down and kept quiet.
It was unclear to Katie if Candace was remorseful or trying to play her and the investigation. Either way, Katie was going to get some answers.
“You understand that you’re in trouble, right?”
Candace didn’t move. Her dark hair was shorter than her sister’s, just past shoulder length, and was messy and dirty from the fall. In a better light, it was clear that she resembled her sister almost perfectly. There was no mistaking that they were sisters. She had a gold nose ring and there were subtle remnants of makeup around her eyes, now smeared along with the mud.
“And you understand that you have compromised a murder investigation and things are looking sketchy for you. You do understand, right?” she said, and raised her voice. “I’m not a fan of repeating myself.”
“What… what do you want to know?” the young woman finally said.
“Oh, so you can speak,” Katie said, still remembering being pushed down the hill.
“Yes,” she said slowly, as if afraid to say anything at all. Her words slightly trembled as she spoke.
“Good.” Katie took a deep breath; she was too angry to suffer from any anxiety right now. As strange as it sounded, anger fueled her drive, pushed unnecessary thoughts and memories away, but in the end it was psychologically draining for her.
Katie heard Candace shift her weight in the backseat.
“Where have you been for the past five years?” she asked.
“Everywhere. I left town not long after I left Elm Hill.”
“That’s not telling me much.”
“LA, Sacramento, Boise, and then Phoenix.”
“Who helped you escape the mansion?”
“Ray. We hung out for a while, but he got weird, possessive, and I bailed.”
“Last name?”
“Ray Conner.”
“How did you meet him?”
“In town.”
“Look, Ms. Harlan. I don’t know if you realize how much trouble you are in. If I were you, I would strongly suggest cooperating with us.” Katie turned her gaze and stared at Candace. She looked defeated, hair wet and hanging in her face, and eyes looking at the floor. “I can help you, but you have to be honest with me.” Katie couldn’t help but see her twin sister lying in her grave covered with mud and it tamed her anger. Now she felt compassion for the woman.
“I used to go to a coffee place on the corner of Maple and Jensen Streets.”
Katie nodded. “I know it.”
“I would go there a lot. It was a place where I could be alone and think… and prepare for when I turned eighteen.”
“You met Ray there?”
“Yes. I saw him several times. He was cute in his own way… older… but I liked him. After a while, we would share a table and talk about things: my life, his life, and living in this town.”
“What did he do?”
“I’m not entirely sure. It had to do with business, accounting, I think. He always had files of reports and spreadsheets in his briefcase.”
“How long did you stay with him?”
“About three months.”
“Where did you stay?”
“We rented a motel with a kitchen by the week.”
“Why not his house?”
“He said it was too small and his roommate was always around. This way we could be alone.”
Katie took a few notes, but she was beginning to get an instinct of who “Ray” was and it wasn’t a good feeling. “What motel?”
“I don’t remember the name. It was over near where the railroad stores their cars and cargo. I do remember that it had a big red dot and it said ‘weekly rentals with kitchens’.”
“You say you left Ray after three months?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you go?”
“Um, I went to Los Angeles. I worked as a waitress and tried to get a modeling job.”
“During all this time when you’ve moved—did you see Ray again?”
There was a pause before she answered, “I thought I saw him in Sacramento, but I was mistaken. It made me think that he might have tracked me down and was following me.”
“You never spoke to Ray again?”
“No.”
The heater was turned to low in the patrol car and Katie started to feel better—her shivers had stopped. “Were you ever in contact with any of the girls from Elm Hill?”
“I spoke with all of them for a while at first, except…”
“Except who?”
“Tanis,” she said.
That revelation surprised Katie. “Why not Tanis? Wasn’t she your best