At dawn, Tempest woke up with her heart racing after roughly two hours of sleep. She’d skimmed the entirety of The Raven and downloaded and began reading his most recent book. In her past life she would have only just gone to bed as the sun rose. Now, she knew she’d never get back to sleep.
After reading more by the man who was haunting her family’s life, she was more convinced than ever that his handwritten manuscript revealed more than the words themselves. Corbin Colt loved weaving together layers of meaning. What did his manuscript mean? It certainly wasn’t that her father had killed her mother. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that much.
It was still mostly dark outside, but the stars on her bedroom ceiling glowed faintly, showing her the image of a skeleton key. Reminding her she was a key that could open any lock. She tossed off the covers and checked on her grandparents, telling them what she’d learned. She felt terrible that they looked even more dejected than she felt.
The sun had fully risen by the time she slunk down the tree house stairs after talking with them. She grabbed her keys. She needed to do something she should have done earlier if she hadn’t been so shortsighted.
“What do you think?” Tempest asked Detective Rinehart after she finished her story.
“I think,” he said, “that you’re playing the role of sleuth like Ms. Sinclair and Ms. Kingsley. Blackburn told me everything, you know. About your little game.”
“It wasn’t a game. I already know he told you. That was the plan.” It was the only reason Blackburn had agreed to help her.
“To ask forgiveness after the fact?”
“You don’t really think my grandfather is guilty, either, do you? And going after my father for my mother’s vanish—”
“I’m not going after anyone. I have some unanswered questions. About both cases. I agree with you there’s more to both cases than the physical evidence indicates. Happy now?”
“You mean motive?” Which still pointed to both her dad and grandfather.
He didn’t answer.
“That’s why you went ahead and arrested my grandfather and are looking at my dad for my mom’s disappearance.”
“This isn’t a game, Ms. Raj.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” she shouted. “This is my life. Not yours. You get to go home after doing your due diligence—”
“Why do you think I didn’t arrest you and your boyfriend for breaking and entering at Miss Bello’s house? Don’t—” he held up a finger, “make me regret that decision.”
“Will you tell me what you’ve learned?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.” He must have been able to tell her head was about to pop off like a cartoon character’s, because he continued, “But I can say this much. You have good instincts. I don’t condone your methods, but figuring out how Mr. Colt got himself to Hidden Creek and landed on that table helps answer a lot of our questions, which helps us make better use of our resources.”
She hadn’t been wrong about the mechanisms that made Corbin Colt’s murder possible. There was no doubt someone at the séance was responsible for both Corbin’s death and Sylvie’s kidnapping. Someone’s alibi for Sylvie’s kidnapping wasn’t real.