“Good question.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and Pen took Max’s leash so I could do a quick search.
We kept walking while I scanned the article I found. “Here it is. It says hikers discovered the remains when they were digging a latrine hole. They notified local law enforcement.”
“That makes sense. If someone wanted to hide a body, they’d do it in a spot that’s hidden or secluded.”
“Which is also where you’d dig a latrine hole.” I clicked to go back to my search results. “There’s an updated article, too. Looks like the victim was identified—a woman from Spokane who went missing twenty years ago.”
“Twenty years? That’s a long time.”
“Makes you wonder if she was the first.”
“That’s what I was thinking. If Morris really did it, do you think his wife knows?”
I slipped my phone back in my pocket and took Max’s leash while Pen kept Maggie’s.
“I don’t know. Twenty years is a long time to keep a secret like that. Especially if there was more than one. I guess he could have threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone.”
“The whole thing is so strange. I keep trying to imagine Edwin Morris the painter as a murderer. It’s hard to fathom. He was so soft-spoken. I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Sometimes serial killers seem totally normal to the people around them.”
“Did you ever see him and his wife together? Did she seem afraid of him?”
“Not that I can remember. She was at the picnic on the last day of class, and they seemed… I don’t know, like a normal couple, I guess. Not very affectionate, but she didn’t seem afraid of him or anything.”
Max paused to sniff the trunk of a tree. We waited while he peed on it, then started walking again. The trail turned and rose in an incline. Both dogs wanted to race up the hill, but we kept them to a reasonable pace.
“Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you.” She grabbed my arm in her excitement, and I felt a zap of electricity at her touch. “Yesterdayafter school, I saw Ashley and Jeremy in the parking lot together. I think they might have been about to kiss.”
“Are you serious?”
“Well… Okay, I don’t know if they were going to kiss or not. Derek was out there, and he yelled something across the parking lot at them. Probably just telling them to have a nice weekend or whatever.”
“Freaking Derek.”
“I know, right?” She laughed. “I guess two teachers walking to their cars at the same time after work isn’t really news. But for a second, I thought I was about to get proof they’re together.”
“That would have been a breakthrough.”
“I just have this feeling about them. I swear they’re secretly dating.”
I nodded. I thought so, too.
The question of whether Ashley and Jeremy were dating brought another question to my mind. What about Penelope? Was she going to start over? Put herself out there and start dating again?
Why did I hate that idea so much? Just the thought of Penelope dating made me want to punch him in the face. And he wasn’t even a real person, just a theoretical date.
Because seriously, fuck that guy.
The trail evened out again and veered right, passing through a thicket of trees. Something caught Max’s attention and he stopped to sniff the trunks. Maggie joined him.
I listened, catching the sound of moving water as it carried through the air. “The creek.”
Pen gave the leash a gentle tug. “Max, Maggie, let’s go!”
The sound of the creek grew as we hurried through the trees. Finally, the trail emerged into a clearing. The creek flowed from higher up the hill, cascading down over smooth rocks, and the gray outcropping loomed just ahead. Deciduous trees blazedwith fall color and the red and brown leaves swirled in the trickling water.
Pen got out her phone and brought up a photo of Morris’s painting. “What do you think?”
“This has to be the place.” I pointed to the rock formation. “Look, that angle right there. It’s exactly the same.”
