“But for whatever reason, they take it. They’re hyperaware of their surroundings. They had to know there was a chance that they’d get caught—and then, suddenly, they hear a sound and see someone running back to the house. The yard’s wide open, nothing to obstruct their view, and the someone they see is wearing Jasper’s raincoat. They assume it’s him and realize he saw them smack in the middle of . . . you know.” I tried not to blush. I hadn’t worked any sex crimes with Tim yet, so talk of lewd misconduct and inappropriate hookups was brand-new, but the fact that I felt like a teenager in an awkward conversation with my dad was downright embarrassing.

“Bebe is Jasper’s sister,” Tim said. “She couldn’t tell the difference between him and a girl she just met?”

“They were distracted. The shed windows are covered with cobwebs. I can see how Bebe could make that mistake.”

Just to be sure, I’d grilled Abella about the scene and what came afterward. It took until she looked down at Jasper’s raincoat in her arms for the horrible realization to sink in. They were close in height, and both she and Jasper wore jeans that day. Tim had a point, but I found myself wanting to side with Abella. There was a good chance Ned and Bebe believed the Peeping Tom was Jas.

“What kind of person cheats on her husband at her grandmother’s house with the whole family around?” Tim looked at me like he thought I might know the answer, what with all my years living in New York with a mixed bag of human garbage.

“The kind that kills her brother when she thinks he’s caught on?”

Tim’s eyes widened. “You think?”

“Could be. Ned has reason to freak, too, but Abella’s pinning the blame for the affair squarely on Bebe. She says Ned’s a close friend. They hang out together in the city—her, Jasper, and Ned. If you ask me she’s giving Ned a lot of credit, considering she caught him banging his friend’s sister, but she insists he’s innocent.”

“They hang out in the city,” Tim repeated thoughtfully. “Does the happy group include Flynn?”

“I got a hard no on that. It’s Ned, Jasper, and Abby who fraternize, no asshole brothers allowed. Flynn made it sound like he and Jasper are pals, but Abella says they hate each other. According to her, Flynn’s got a history of aggression. You should have heard the story she told me about Flynn torturing Jasper when they were kids. Way worse than your typical sibling stuff.”

“So does Flynn know about the affair, too?”

“Abella doesn’t think so. If he did, and he’s as violent as she’s suggesting, it’d be Ned or Bebe missing, not Jasper.” I paused. “You’ve had a look at Ned. He take a fist to the chin?”

“The fresh bruises on Flynn’s knuckles,” Tim said. After talking to Flynn, I’d texted Tim a truncated report of what I knew so far. It wasn’t as good as sharing my findings in person, but I wanted to keep him in the loop without having to constantly pull him off guard duty. It was kind of like backing up critical data. Tim made a useful hard drive. “No sign any of them took a punch.”