Rafe smiled. “As far as I know, your sins have all been committed vicariously through your offspring.”

“Ah, my wife would say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” He laughed again.

“How are your rug rats doing these days?” Rafe asked. “Last I heard all three had actually found colleges that would take them.”

“Can you believe it?” Isaac shook his head. “But turns out our middle child didn’t actually want to go. She’s apprenticed to an electrician and loves the work. The other two? They’re costing us a fortune in tuition.”

Though he grimaced, I sensed his underlying pride in his offspring. For a moment, my stomach clenched with worry. If Rafe and I had children, odds were good they’d go to college, but how would we pay for it? My parents had helped pay for my undergraduate degree, and I wanted to do the same for my own kids. And child care was so expensive; how were we going to save money for—

“Stop,” I murmured to myself. I had to stop worrying and focus on the things I could control.

“What’s that?” Rafe asked.

I suddenly woke up to the fact that standing right there in front of me was someone who worked with Drew Parnell, our new suspect, on a daily basis. “I’ve started riding with the bike club that Brown belonged to,” I said. “And I hear your boss rides with them, too.”

“Oh?” Isaac looked surprised. “News to me. But he’s a private kind of guy. He doesn’t talk about himself much. I know he came from a smaller city downstate, but other than that?” He shrugged. “Spends a lot of time in the office, that’s for sure.”

“Do you like working for him?”

Isaac grinned. “I’m a public servant. I work for the taxpayers of Chilson.”

“All three of us do,” Rafe said, and we bumped knuckles all around.

Before we shifted topics too much, I said, “When I was in with Tabitha a little bit ago, you and Cathy were talking about Ariella Tice.” He nodded cautiously, and I went on. “I ran into Drew the other day and he sort of said he’d fired Ariella after something happened between her and Emily Acosta, the woman who was found in the state forest. Do you know—”

Isaac’s eyes went wide. “You think Ariella killed her? And Brown?”

Nice job, Minnie, I told myself. You’ve scared the daylights out of him for no real reason. “Ariella seems like one of those people who feel life owes them a living,” I said truthfully. “And, no, I don’t really think she’s a killer. But if there’s some connection, the police should know.”

“Sure, I see,” Isaac said, nodding.