and Willow Briggs. And, more importantly, Katie.
She wanted to cry because of all that had happened. Gina’s words echoed in her ears, as did the words of Jessica James: Lost too soon.
KARL
AN EMERGENCY CHECK AT TOWN HALL HAD REVEALED TO HIM THAT the boat shed was owned by Beckett and Samantha McCallister. Now, that was an interesting development. Did it mean anything? Had the location of Dakota James’s body been merely random?
It was a Sunday morning, and he needed to work. Sunday mornings had been the worst time for him since he’d become a bachelor again, although with time they’d become more bearable. He remembered the Sundays when he could lounge in bed, his arm draped over his wife’s soft body. Then coffee, pancakes, and eggs, all of which he would whip up for his little family. His daughter would be in her pajamas, watching cartoons and giggling. Winters were the best time, when the fireplace roared while snow accumulated on the ground, the temperature hovering in the single digits. He loved many aspects of his old life and missed it more than he knew. Would he ever find anything resembling that tranquility again? Maybe his old life looked better in hindsight. Had he forgotten all the turmoil and bitterness that had led to his wife leaving him?
Right now he needed answers. He pressed the McCallisters’ doorbell and waited for someone to come to the door. Someone had to be home. All three cars sat parked in the garage. Suddenly the door opened, and a stylish-looking woman appeared before him, dressed in an expensive silk bathrobe.
“Can I help you, Officer? There’s nothing wrong, is there?”
“Morning, ma’am.” Something wrong? Had she been living with her head in the sand? Her house sat next door to the Briggses’ home. The woman’s obliviousness to everything going on in town nearly made him laugh. “You must have heard that we found a body yesterday.”
“Yes, unfortunately, I did hear that. Someone at the club last night said they found the body of Dakota James. Such a tragedy.”
“You were at the club when you heard this news last night?”
“Yes, one of the members told me while we were holding a fund-raiser for Laura Milton. She’s running for town council.”
“Excuse me for asking, Mrs. McCallister, but we didn’t release the victim’s name to the public. How could someone at your club have known about that?”
She reached back and began to massage her neck. Her robe opened slightly, giving him a peekaboo view of her cleavage. It looked to him as if she’d gone through enhancement surgery. He guessed her age to be midforties, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was over fifty. Women today took much better care of themselves than when he was growing up, especially these women with lots of money to burn. He remembered the days when fifty-year-old women in this town looked old and haggard, life being much harder back then.
“Mrs. McCallister?”
“Oh, right. It was very uncomfortable, Officer. Not the time or place.”
“Not the time or place for what?”
“Jessica James made an appearance at our fund-raiser last night. She was visibly upset and looked like she’d been drinking. It was all we could do to escort the poor woman off the premises.”
“Why was she there?”
“Really, I feel terrible for her, I do. But she had no right to chastise us for holding a fund-raiser, especially at our own club. This event had been planned many months ago.”
“I still don’t understand why she was there.”
“She said she couldn’t understand how we could be enjoying ourselves, drinking and socializing, after her son’s body was discovered. But it wasn’t like that at all. We were there for a specific reason. A good reason.”
“To prevent that proposed tax hike from happening?”
“No, to help get Laura Milton elected to the town council.”
“So that she’d vote against the proposed tax hike?”
“Well, that and other things. Laura went to Harvard and worked as a corporate CFO in Manhattan. She’s more than qualified to be a town councillor, and she’s certainly not a one-issue candidate.” She placed her hand to her sternum. “Our hearts were broken over the discovery of Dakota James. We even observed a moment of silence for those kids. Just because we threw a fund-raiser for Laura doesn’t make us uncaring monsters.”
“I never said you were.”
“And this was an inclusive event, open to all citizens and not just the ones from Harper’s Point. Do you know Isla Eaves? She was there last night. She’s one of