Page 180 of Forever Dead

“So you didn’t know what would persuade her.”

“I knew she was still answering.”

Selena shifted her left foot, testing how firmly she could plant it.

“The lockbox code wasn’t on the public listing.”

“No. It came with the arrival instructions.”

“You booked the house.”

“Under another name some time before. Then canceled after they sent the instructions.”

“And the code?”

“Still worked. The idiots hadn’t changed it.”

Peter’s account and the booking messages could establish whether that was true. Dana already knew to check cancellations. Selena needed to survive long enough to tell her which explanation to test.

“You used the guest key, then?” Selena asked. She just hoped she could keep him talking.

“And put it back.”

“Then sent Patricia the code.”

Foss nodded. “She let herself in. She was practically begging for it.”

“And Nora?”

“People were walking past her house all evening. Music from the maze. Children shouting. She was alone inside.”

“You chose somewhere you could leave among strangers.”

“I hadn’t intended to leave quite so quickly.”

“Connor interrupted you,” Selena said.

Foss grimaced. “Yes.”

“After Nora was dead.”

“Obviously.”

“You went through the corn to Miller Road.”

“My car was there. Your sheriff should have stayed at the house. Oh this game of confession is fun! Shame you’ll never file it.”

Selena pressed her palm against the floor until the urge to answer him passed.

“Eleanor’s chair,” she said. “You broke it over her after she was dead.”

“What can I say.” He smiled, but his eyes were blank. “Sometimes my anger gets the better of me.”

“Patricia was different. You positioned her so whoever opened the door would have to deal with her body. Nora had corn forced into her mouth, beside a field full of families enjoying themselves.”

“You make it sound more theatrical than it is, Agent.”

“You made sure other people would see what you’d done. The chair suggests rage. The corn humiliates her. Patricia’s body makes the person finding her part of it.”