Page 104 of A River Red With Blood
“Did he hurt her?”he asked.“Is that why he ran away?”
Because that, of course, was another possibility: a besotted young woman murdered by a troubled young man.
“It’s the car,” I said.“If your daughter and Scott Theriault were out there together by Lake Parlin, and something happenedbetween them, like an argument that ended badly, how did Scott get back to the school?”
“He could have walked.”
“More than twenty miles, in the dark?”
“That’s six hours or so, if you’re fit.”
“And not traumatized,” I said, “which he would have been in that scenario.But they wouldn’t have wanted to drive so far from Bingham or The Plains to be alone.Time was precious.He would have been worried about being missed, and she needed to be home before you and your wife started fretting.Without trying, they could have found somewhere quiet halfway between Bingham and Spero.”
“You don’t want this to be Theriault’s doing because you’re working for his father,” said T.K.
“I have no personal stake in it,” I replied.“But if you choose to go down that path, you’re accepting that your daughter is gone, and the only person who can confirm what happened to her is dead.You can tell the police about the T-shirt, and they’ll come to me and ask why I think it belonged to Scott Theriault.I’ll give them my reasons, they may decide to send the shirt to be tested, and Ward Vose or Scott’s mother will be invited to give a DNA sample for comparison.I don’t know how long all that will take, but it could be weeks.And by the end of it, a new narrative will have emerged, and that narrative will concretize: Scott Theriault killed Mallory Norton, and his own death followed.That may be the truth or it may not, but regardless, you and your family will have to live with the uncertainty.And let me tell you, Mr Norton, it’s the not knowing that destroys us.”
T.K.Norton sat on his daughter’s bed.Had I not been present, he might have lain on it and breathed in what was left of his child.
“And the alternative?”he asked.
“Leave me to do my job.Say nothing to anyone about that shirt, and give me a day or so to see what I can find out.After that, I’ll go to the police myself.”
It was time for me to leave.
“I told my wife that I was scared Mallory wasn’t ever coming back,” he said.“She slapped my face.”
“Because she’s scared too,” I told him.“I’m staying at the Motor Inn, if the police need to talk to me.Otherwise, I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter 99
Isaid nothing to Sabine Drew about the Smiling Seed T-shirt as we left the Norton house, but she was too sharp-eyed not to spot the change in me.
“What did you notice that I missed?”she asked.
“I’ll tell you later.Where are we meeting your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.We’re not nineteen.”
“So what is he?”
She stared out the side window.
“He’s company.”
“No more?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Well, that’s hopeful,” I said.“And you still haven’t told me where we’re meeting him.”
“He suggested the Kennebec River Brewpub, up in The Forks.It’s not like we’re spoiled for choice here, and pleasant though our lodgings may be, I’m beginning to feel the walls closing in on me.”
She continued to watch the town go by.Only when there was no more town to watch, which didn’t take long, did she speak again.
“Why didn’t Mr Norton come down to say goodbye?”
“Because I don’t think Mr Norton was capable of it,” I replied.“He’s drowning.What did you and his wife talk about while we were gone?”
