“I have a burner,” says Steph. “That I bought up in the cities. I never sent anything that could get either of us in trouble. Just times and dates. Anything specific we discussed in person. When Teddy didn’t call from Kwik-Trip, I figured he found another way home. When he didn’t show up to our meeting place after Itexted him, I wasn’t too concerned. Teddy had a lot of nice qualities, but reliability wasn’t one of them. And then I overheard the boys talking in the garage. I was in the storage space above the rafters—that’s where I kept the scrap metal before hauling it up to the cities. The boys didn’t know I was up there.”
“What did you overhear?” says Zoey.
“Everything. They found Teddy dead. They took his earring. They hoped to use it to get ransom money out of Judd. It was eight o’clock on a Friday morning. Broad daylight. I had to be at the salon in an hour and figured someone would discover the body if they hadn’t done so already. As soon as the boys left the garage, I drove to Miller’s Bluff, hiked up the path, and there was Teddy. Very dead. Just where the boys had said he was when I eavesdropped on them. They’d covered him up pretty well, but I added a few more leaves and left. Then I went back later that night and pulled him down to the path and into the creek.” She breaks down and the tears come hard. “I’m so sorry, Judd. I was trying to cover my tracks.”
“You mean your and Eli’s tracks,” says Clay. Steph looks at him with her sodden face. “You didn’t manage to drag Teddy all the way down the path by yourself. Eli helped you.”
Steph responds with a barely noticeable nod. She catches her breath and says, “Thomas and Graham and Markey had nothing to do with Teddy’s death. Do not ruin their lives over something I did.”
CHAPTER 43
After some conversation in Zoey’s office, weighted by fatigue and sorrow, she, Judd, and Clay come to the conclusion that the boys must face some consequences for their infractions of not reporting a dead body and robbing a corpse. That’s with Clay and Judd not pressing charges for extortion, assault, and auto theft. The three investigators don’t regret waiting until now. They kept the boys cooperative—Thomas felt he had a safe space to reveal what he revealed.
Zoey will work something out with the DA. First thing is they want the boys to tour the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights near Stillwater, a high-security penitentiary for violent offenders. In short, scare the hell out of them. And they’ll ask for a sentence of one hundred hours of community service spread out over a full year. All while on probation. Nothing that will make the boys hardened criminals but instead give themsome thinking time with the threat of severe punishment should they happen to color outside the lines.
Zoey released Wags from custody now that a judge has set a date for his drunk driving sentencing, but not before warning him that if he ever threatens Steph or their kids again, she will do everything in her power to make his life unlivable in southeast Minnesota.
Wahlquist and Kimmich drove Thomas back home. They had never arrested Graham or Markey. Never brought them into the station. All the talk about that in the basement was a bluff. An effective bluff coupled with the threat to arrest Thomas drew the confession out of Steph.
Now Steph is locked in a cell while one cop, one ex-cop, and one ex–intelligence officer discuss her fate.
“How would you like this to end, Judd?” says Zoey. “How should we handle Steph and Eli Hensel? They masterminded a criminal conspiracy. Teddy did the stealing, but they drove the metals up to the cities and sold it for cash off the books. We got ’em on possession and sale of stolen merchandise, evading income and sales tax. Plus failing to report a felony, aiding and abetting, disposing of a dead body. I’m sure we could come up with a few more.”
“I think it might be better for Riverwood to keep Steph and Eli out of jail,” says Judd. “No taxpayer-funded trial for two first offenders who would probably get off with probation anyway. And if Steph goes to jail, her salon will go under, which wouldn’t be good for the town. And her kids would become orphans becauseWags isn’t going to do shit as a parent. I say we nudge Steph into volunteering her stylist skills at the women’s prison in Waseca. Make her feel like she has to earn getting let off the hook. We’ll find something like that for Eli, too.”
“That’s generous of you,” says Clay with admiration in his voice. “And forgiving.”
“Maybe it is,” says Judd. “Or maybe I’m just tired. What do you think, Zoey? It’s your town.”
“I’d rather build community than tear it apart,” says Zoey. “Let’s let Steph and Eli know how fortunate they are. That their town cares about them and their futures.”
“Then that’s that,” says Judd. “It’s over. Thank you. I need it to be over.” Judd stands and heads toward the door. He reaches for the handle then stops. With his back toward Clay and Zoey, he says, “Thanks, you two. Never got to work with a couple of pros my equal before. And then some. If there was ever a case that I needed it, it was this one.” He turns back to face them and adds, “Couldn’t have made it through this without you.”
Judd and Braedon fire up the grill. Nothing fancy. Hot dogs and brats with store-bought potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans. All served on paper plates with cans of beer and pop.
Deb, Clay, and Mei are putting it all together in the kitchen when there’s a knock on Judd’s front door. The cardboard sheet still fills the space where the sidelight window used to be. Clay goes to the door and answers it. Zoey stands on the front stoop, still in uniform. Clay sees the look on her face and knows why she’s come.
A team searched Liar’s Creek all the way to the Root River and then some, but Teddy’s body surfaced on its own near the tiny town of Houston, Minnesota. It was being driven up to Rochester where Teddy’s dentist had already emailed Teddy’s records. Teddy must have been caught on something near the river bottom, and spending over seventy-two hours in the water didn’t make for a pretty sight. Dental records were plenty to ID the body. The Hawkins family would not be burdened with seeing Teddy’s disfigured and bloated corpse—they were free to remember him as they last saw him.
There is something fitting about eating such a simple meal on paper plates with canned beverages after hearing the confirmation of Teddy’s death. The meal is like Teddy, both less than it could have been but also nice the way it is. They share stories around the dinner table, including one from Zoey, whom Judd invited to stay. She pulled Teddy over once for speeding, and when she asked for his driver’s license, he handed her one that had expired eight years ago. He claimed he had no idea. She let him go with a warning.
Judd told stories about their childhood. He and Teddy built a catapult that could launch a pumpkin the length of a football field. If it weren’t for Judd’s restraint, they could have done some real damage with that thing. Deb said for all his faults, Teddy was a loving and devoted husband. Clay brought up the early morning that he and Teddy walked down to the river and cast mouse patterns for monster brown trout, only to return to the trailer to find Judd’s squad car parked out front. It was when Clay felt Teddy’s hand on his shoulder that Clay understood that his mother had died.
Zoey helps clean up, then thanks Deb for including her. It’s the first of her exit lines. The first and the last because Clay gives her a look that saysplease stay. She doesn’t have to confirm it with words. She knows. And when she opens the plastic tortoiseshell jaws that bind her hair behind her head, she magically changes from Zoey the cop to Zoey the friend. And for Clay, perhaps more than a friend.
No one leaves until after midnight. And that’s after both Clay and Judd insist that Deb spend the night at one of their houses. But Deb declines their offers. She wants to get this first night over with. The first night alone in the home she shared with Teddy while knowing he’s never coming back. To experience the finality of it. The hard reality of it. Deb and Teddy had been together since high school. Now Deb, at sixty-three years old, will be on her own. It will take some getting used to. But she is sixty-three. Postponing the inevitable doesn’t make much sense.
Outside, where more goodbyes are said, Clay whispers to Zoey, “My dad’s taking Braedon on a fishing trip up north next week.”
CHAPTER 44
“Oh, that’s terrible,” says Emily. “He was in the river all that time?”
“Yeah,” says Braedon. “But it’s better that we know. It’s better we’re not guessing what happened to him.”
Braedon sits up in bed. He feels both sad and calm. Like a real person of the world. Not a kid growing into it.
Emily walks a beach in Scotland, the sun rising over the North Sea. “It’s a good thing that lady told the truth, otherwise you might never know how it happened.”
