Page 129 of Forever Dead

Selena shifted against the headboard.

“Any progress on Ray?”

“Still checking his alibis.”

“Could I go through the emails when Dana’s finished with them? I can read perfectly well with my leg up.”

“I’ll ask her to get the relevant material together. There’s no need for you to come into the station.”

“I said I wouldn’t.”

“I know.”

She heard traffic passing him.

“You sound tired.”

“It’s been a long afternoon.”

“Call me if something changes.”

“I will.”

They said goodbye, and Selena set the phone beside her.

She had promised not to come into the station today, and she meant to keep that promise. A short visit to her father was different from spending hours on her feet at a crime scene.

She got up with the cane. Her knee resisted for the first few steps, so she waited beside the dresser until the stiffness eased before taking her jacket.

*

One of Connor’s deputies had returned Selena’s car from the Tully farmhouse that morning and left the keys with Eric.

Before leaving the motel, Selena tested the brake in the parking lot. Her right leg moved between the pedals without hesitation, although getting into the car had aggravated her knee.

Robert’s house was less than fifteen minutes away.

Elmsview had surrendered to Halloween. Orange lights framed shop windows along Main Street. Plastic skeletons hung from porch rails, and carved pumpkins had appeared outside the bakery, pharmacy, and diner.

Two children in costumes ran along the sidewalk ahead of their mother, despite Halloween still being a day away. Selena slowed until they were well clear of the road.

The sight brought back Halloweens when she and Diane had spent the afternoon arguing over who got the better costume. Robert had always insisted on carving the pumpkins himself, then surrendered the knife after their mother accused him of making every one of them look angry.

Her mother had been better at it.

Robert had been better at turning the front yard into something capable of frightening small children.

His house came into view around the next bend.

Selena smiled before she reached the driveway.

Robert had gone all out for Halloween, just as he had when she was a child.

Orange bulbs ran around the porch roof. Three pumpkins glowed on the front steps despite the remaining daylight. A wooden black cat stood beside the path with its back arched. Paper bats filled the front windows, and an old plastic witch hung from the porch beam by a loop of fishing line.

Selena parked at the curb and stared at the witch.

When she was nine, Robert had rigged it to slide down a wire at approaching trick-or-treaters. The experiment ended when Mrs. Hobson nearly knocked him unconscious with her handbag.