She knew better than to doubt a brother’s intuition. But she couldn’t consider it actual fact either. “When was this call?”
“The day you got here. It came in after you left that first time.”
“So even if she was on the island then, she might not be now.” She hated to pour cold water on this news, but it had to be said. “I think I should still go to Vermont. But if you want to stay here in case she appears, or if you want to do a door-to-door search?—”
“No.” He gave a regretful shake of his head. “It’s not enough to go on. I can’t really trust my instincts at the moment because I’m so worried about her.”
All the teasing humor disappeared from his face, so she could see just how anxious he was feeling. Her heart went out to him, even though she normally tried to operate on a non-emotional level when she was pursuing a case.
“Hey,” she said gently. “Chin up. We’re making progress.”
“Are we? I don’t know. I might need a hug. Is that part of a fake assistant’s job?” One corner of his mouth ticked up in a smile. She could practically see him pull himself out of despair in order to tease her.
She laughed. “Idiot.”
14
Before they took off for Vermont, Tina and Jack met with Marigold, who was working her other job—roofing.
“Actually, I’m an all-around handyman,” she explained after climbing down the ladder she’d set up to repair the Witherspoon cottage. She wore gray coveralls and a tool belt, along with work boots and a kerchief around her bright hair. “Anything needs fixed, call on Marigold.”
“I have about a hundred things I could use help with—” Jack began, but she waved him off.
“Sorry, I’m booked all the way to next year. Shortage of workers on this island. Hot tip, just watch YouTube how-to videos, you’ll figure it out. So what’s the latest on this motherfucker?”
“We’re going to Vermont to talk to Kate Mansfield,” Tina said. “But before we go, we need as many details about Adam as you can dredge up. Physical, psychological, financial, childhood, anything you can recall. We think there’s a possibility Adam is Lloyd Mansfield, previously Martin.”
“And this is based on a watercolor of a sandcastle?” Marigold screwed up her face. “Such a long shot. He never mentioned sandcastles to me. We never even went to the beach. I suggested a beach wedding and he said he’d only go for that if the beach was in Hawaii.”
“Did you ever get the impression that he’d been to Sea Smoke before, like as a child?” Tina asked. Her ever-present notebook was out again.
“You know, maybe.” She tilted her head, squinting into the distance, as if to call up those memories. Clouds were accumulating in the sky, low gray ones that felt almost claustrophobic. She was probably running out of time to get this roof fix completed. “I can’t point to anything specific, but once I mentioned the Old Southwest Woods, and he seemed to already be familiar with them. Usually only us islanders know those woods. But he’s very intelligent and picks things up fast.”
“Can you say more about that?” Tina looked up from her notebook.
“Well, like with my job. I’m always on call, but only certain calls require that I get off my ass and help Luke. We have a code, us and whoever’s volunteering at dispatch. One time the dispatcher sent me a code and Adam saw it first, and said, ‘it’s nothing important.’ He was right, but I’d never explained the codes or even told him we had codes. He put it together all on his own.”
Jack met Tina’s eyes, and although she showed no reaction, he knew she was thinking along the same lines. Hadn’t Marigold found that suspicious? Was Adam a bit too interested in her job with the constable?
“So he’s highly intelligent, what else?” Tina asked. “Did he ever mention anything about his childhood, or his parents? You two were engaged to be married. Were his parents planning to come to the wedding? Did you ever meet them, or speak to them?”
With every word, Marigold flinched almost invisibly. Jack felt for her, but the questions had to be asked.
“He said he’d gone no-contact with his parents. He wouldn’t say why, but he did say that he wouldn’t want me anywhere near them. I don’t really know what he meant, but I thought maybe….abuse?” Marigold shrugged helplessly. “That was something he knew a lot about, so I figured that was why. I should have asked more questions, but it’s such a sensitive area. I’m used to just puttin’ it all out there, but Adam’s not like that. I figured I’d learn more after we married.”
“Did he ever mention a sister?” Jack asked, ignoring Tina’s sharp glance—she’d told him that she liked to do the questioning.
“No. But I’m pretty sure he has one.” She hit the back of her neck, where a mosquito had landed. “He got a text once from a number labeled as ‘sis.’ We were…busy at the time. I asked later who ‘sis’ was, if she had a name, and he said, ‘forget about her. My entire family is toxic.’ But—okay, this might be something, I just remembered. I was going to call her about the wedding, so I grabbed his phone when he was asleep. That time, his entire contact list was empty.”
“As if he’d erased everything?”
“Maybe. I asked him about it and he said his phone had died and he hadn’t downloaded anything to the replacement phone yet. But it didn’t look like a new phone. I wonder if me asking about ‘sis’ freaked him out? I can’t believe what an idiot I am.”
Poor Marigold looked so wretched that Jack couldn’t take it. He stepped toward her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You shouldn’t blame yourself. I think my sister fell for his act too, and I know how smart she is. You are too. Love can make us do crazy things.”
Shocking him, Marigold burst into tears and flung herself against him. He patted her on the back in a fatherly way, like how his grandad used to comfort him when he’d lost a mackerel off his line. “You’re okay, everything’s going to be all right,” he murmured. “Live and learn, right?”
Over Marigold’s shoulder, he met Tina’s gaze. She tapped her pen against her lip, looking somewhere between amused and relieved that it wasn’t her.
