“I didn’t know whose house it was, and I wouldn’t have been able to pick Melanie Locke from a lineup back then if my life depended on it. It was just some rich people gone for the weekend—that’s all. It’s not like it was a big rager or anything. Just me, TC, her friend, and the friend’s boyfriend. We got there and were drinking, smoking some pot, being pretty mellow. But then it becomes obvious that TC’s on something else. She’s totally out of it, giggling like an idiot, and she tells me she and her friend ate some mushrooms. I was pissed because if I’d known that was the plan, I wouldn’t have gone.”

Once Ellie joined the police force, she’d been careful to avoid the details of Jess’s recreational activities. Though she wanted to believe those days were over, it was no secret that he had enjoyed more than his fair share of illegal drugs over the years. She was more surprised about his disapproval of someone else’s illicit drug use.

“Sorry, but I would have assumed you’d join the party.”

“Hallucinogens? Hours of living in an altered reality where, let’s say hypothetically, you think murderous clowns are tickling you? That’s a hard pass. I was trying to talk TC down, but then her friend’s dude started freaking out and was breaking shit. Like total batshit crazy town. Pulling crap off the walls, smashing glass everywhere. I was like, What the fuck, man? And the other girl’s totally out of it. I was worried she was going to pass out or something. And then TC starts tripping even worse, and her happy giggles are now a raging paranoia. So I’m trying to get TC to sober up, and get angry dude to stop breaking shit. And then the zoned-out girl goes wandering out the front door, and the boyfriend runs after her. It was a clusterfuck, and I just wanted to bail, but I didn’t feel right leaving TC there.”

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was monotone. “I caught what looked like headlights through the front window. Someone was pulling into the driveway. I knew it was too good to be true, some rich family letting the babysitter hang out in their house while they were out of town.”

He shook his head and poured himself another shot.

“It was Richard Mullaney coming home?” she prodded.

“I had no idea, not at the time. I literally picked TC up over my shoulder and ran out the back door. We were halfway into the yard when I heard a gunshot. The shock of it seemed to sober her up enough to get her moving. We jumped the back fence and ran like hell.”