“How do you know?”
“He told me, after I mentioned once that I was concerned about what I’d do if I ever needed help at night. He also said anytime I wanted him, all I had to do was come out on the back galérie and bang a pot with a metal spoon, and he’d hear me—day or night, because he slept with the window cracked.Sound does carry a long distance out here, and since he was tuned in to the environment, I felt confident in that plan.”
“In that case, who’s been wandering around on your property?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you think Steven may have noticed lights during any of his visits?”
“It’s possible. He does stay up later than I do. But he holes up in his room to answer emails and read financial reports. My cousin lives to work.” She wrinkled her nose. “We can ask him about the lights during our break, though. He’ll be up by then.”
Her cousin slept until almost ten?
Natalie must have read the surprise on her face because she chuckled. “Steven tends to be a night owl. He has to get up early in St. Louis, so he likes to sleep in whenever he’s here.”
Ah.
A kindred spirit.
“I can relate. My siblings are always teasing me aboutmynight-owl tendencies.”
“Perhaps you two have more in common than you thought.”
She let that pass.
“After we ask Steven about the lights, I’d like to let Brad know what I saw, especially given what happened to Micah.”
“By all means. If there’s nefarious activity happening on this land, I want it fully investigated.” She adjusted her glasses. “Shall we dive into the journal?”
“Yes.”
They worked steadily for an hour, and Steven was, indeed, up and in the kitchen eating a piece of toast when Cara went to get Natalie a second cup of tea and replenish her coffee.
“Morning.” He greeted her with a smile and started to stand.
“Stay put. I’m here for refills during our break.” She held up their mugs. “I do have a question for you, though.”
“Ask away.”
As she filled Natalie’s mug with water and put it in the microwave, she repeated the story she’d told the older woman.
By the time she finished, deep grooves dented his forehead. “That’s disturbing.”
“I take it you don’t have any idea who it could be.”
“No—but whoever it is, they’re trespassing.”
“At the very least.” She removed Natalie’s mug and put a teabag in the steaming water.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m wondering if they may have some connection to Micah’s death.”
“I thought the sheriff had decided that was an accident.”
She added more java to her mug from the coffeemaker on the counter. “That’s the obvious answer. But there are a few things about the death that bother him, so he’s digging deeper.”
“Huh. I wonder what he found that raised a red flag.”
