She slowed as she passed the police station. She wondered if she should tell Sergeant Stanley about the rug that was no longer in Quinn Newell’s garage. Such a flimsy piece of non-evidence—from the back, one piece of carpet looked pretty much like any other. Still, a rolled-up rug had disappeared from the Newells’ garage, and one like it had appeared in the Murphys’ storage unit.

So how did Wally’s body get from the wharf to the storage unit? Was there any way that Quinn could have managed it alone? Emily wondered if she had time to drive to the wharf and look around before meeting Becca and Lila at the storage unit . . .

As if on cue, her phone pinged with a text from Becca.

Heading back

See you at Inner Peace in about an hour

The commuter lot at the wharf was full when Emily got there. She continued to the boat basin and pulled over in a no-parking zone near the boat ramp. A couple was hauling a kayak out of the water. Both of them had binoculars hanging from around their necks. The man suddenly lowered his end of the kayak and pointed out over the water. A huge bird, dark with a white head, swooped down and landed on a branch at the near shore.

Emily sat forward in her seat and loosened her shirt, which had stuck to her sweat-soaked back. Suddenly chilled, she turned down the air conditioner and took a few deep breaths, trying to slow her heartbeat.

She’d almost succeeded when her phone chirped. The readout said QUINN NEWELL. Again. Emily dropped the phone. It bounced from her lap onto the car floor. Chirped again. A third time. A fourth time. In the blessed silence that followed, Emily could hear her own labored breathing and the car’s wheeze. When the voice-mail message chimed, she felt around on the floor for the phone and picked it up. She stared for a few moments at the red dot that said she had two new messages before playing them.

Quinn’s voice: “I just got home. I thought you might be here but it looks like I missed you. Call me as soon as you can.” That was the call that had come when Emily was still in the garage. The second message: “Me again. Did you get my message? There’s something I need to show you. Can you come back right away?”