Page 193 of Forever Dead

The lights changed. Arnold drove on.

“There’s an answer about Eleanor’s front door, too.”

Selena straightened.

“The second break-in?”

“Two local boys went there to film inside. One parent found the recording and brought it to us. It shows them forcing the door. They’ve both admitted it.”

“Were they there when I arrived?”

“One was still inside. The other saw your car and warned him. They went out the back before Connor got there.”

Selena remembered the footsteps, the sagging tape and her hand reaching for a gun she had not brought.

“They thought it was entertainment?”

“Apparently.”

She turned toward the window. Eleanor’s house had become a place strangers could use for a thrill. The answer made her angry in a different way from the uncertainty.

“What about Foss’s records?”

“State Police are handling the search. Your account identifies what they need to preserve and where he said the notebook was. Then they’ll have to compare it with the old mortuary records.”

“Those people had families.”

“I know.”

“And Patricia’s booking?”

“Dana has the canceled reservation and the arrival instructions from Peter. The code matches the one in Patricia’s email. Peter confirmed he hadn’t changed it after the cancellation because nobody had stayed.”

“Does the reservation identify Foss?”

“Not by name. That part still needs tracing. We have a mechanism that matches what he told you, not a finished chain of evidence.”

Selena nodded.

“The Linwood call?”

“They’re comparing his movements with the footage already collected. The payphone and the time fit his account. We may not be able to prove every part of it.”

“At least it isn’t being left with his confession.”

“No.”

They drove quietly for a while.

Near the motel, Arnold glanced across.

“They’ll need another statement from you.”

“The investigator told me.”

“About everything at the house.”

“I understand.”