Page 103 of Forever Dead

Connor looked on, knowingly, but let her continue.

Ray’s attention drifted toward the metal outbuilding downhill, then back to Selena.

“If somebody’s doing this because of things I said years ago,” Ray said, “that’s got nothing to do with me.”

Connor’s voice stayed calm. “That would depend on what you said and who heard it.”

Ray’s expression seemed to become more serious.

Selena studied him one last time. Irritated, defensive, practiced around authority. All of that fit the man Connor had described.

The fear did not fit as neatly.

Maybe Ray was frightened by the idea that someone had acted on his old grievances. Maybe he was frightened because the murders had dragged something of his into the light.

Selena was not ready to decide which.

Connor handed Ray a card. “If any name comes to mind, call me. Don’t decide whether it matters first.”

Ray took the card without looking at it.

“You done?” he asked.

“For now,” Connor said.

Connor turned toward the steps.

Selena followed more slowly. At the SUV, she paused before getting in and glanced back.

Ray Cutler remained on the porch.

His arms were no longer crossed.

He stood with Connor’s card between two fingers, staring out beyond the drive as though he had forgotten they were still there.

Selena lowered herself into the passenger seat, stiff pain running up her leg.

She was no longer sure what they had walked away with.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ray Cutler’s house disappeared behind the trees as Connor guided the SUV back down the winding road. Selena sat with her injured wrist resting across her lap and watched the iron gate recede in the side mirror. The interview had left her with more questions than answers, but Ray’s reaction to the Tully murder kept returning to her.

“He was frightened,” Selena said.

Connor looked toward her. “Ray?”

“When we told him about Patricia. But I couldn’t tell what frightened him.”

“He said he’d been at the trucking yard all night,” Connor replied. “Arnold can check that against his employees and the delivery records.”

“I want the property disputes checked, too. Everyone he argued with, everyone he talked to about them.”

“You think he was lying?”

“I think we caught him by surprise. That’s not the same as innocence.”

Connor drove through a shallow bend bordered by bare-limbed maples and a long cattle fence.