Max half stood and nodded toward Meredith. “Ma’am.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Rupert.”

As she neared, Max could see that she had been crying, or maybe her eyes were red and puffy from the lack of sleep. Either way, she moved past him as though his presence mattered little in her world. She went to the kitchen and Max returned to his conversation with Lyle.

“What can you tell me about David Haas?”

“Haas? He’s a good guy. Why? You don’t think Haas had something to do with it?”

“I’m not saying one way or the other. It’s just… something’s been bothering me about the situation. I stopped by the sheriff’s office this morning and had a chat with Bolger.”

Lyle looked like he’d just bitten into a rotten apple. “Did he talk to you?”

“A little. He buys that Haas has an alibi, but admits he’s got no time card or witness statements. It leaves open a window of opportunity.”

“What else did he say?”

“He said the case is closed. He’s convinced that Sandy ran off—and that’s all there is to it.”

“The person we need to look at is that son of a bitch Reed Harris. If anyone—”

“Reed has an alibi.”

“The casino. I know. Did I tell you that Reed used to be my deputy?”

“Bolger mentioned it.”

“That’s how he met Sandy. I’ll regret that to my dying day. I tried to talk her out of marrying him, but you can’t make someone see what they don’t want to see.” Lyle went on like a steel spring uncoiling. “The man got violent when he drank. You can’t hide something like that from a cop. I saw the bruises—heard the excuses. I wanted to fire him, but Sandy talked me out of it.”

A sniffle came from the kitchen. Max looked over his shoulder to see Meredith leaning over the sink, her hair covering her face as she scrubbed a dish.

Lyle continued in a quieter voice. “It’s been hard on her.”

“I can only imagine,” Max whispered.

“We thought Sandy would be safe once she divorced Reed.”

“How did that come about?”

Lyle straightened up. “Reed came home one night—drunk—and he and Sandy got into an argument. Somehow, Pip got in the middle of it, and Reed hit Pip hard enough to send him flying. My daughter’s always been a timid thing, but when that happened, she lit into Reed like a scalded cat. He hit her and broke her eye socket. She called me but he was gone by the time I got there. Honestly, Max, if he’d have been there when I saw Sandy—her face swollen like that—I’d have shot the bastard. I swear I would have.”

Lyle looked at Max as though expecting judgment, but Max had none to give.

“He went on the run, lived up in the Boundary Waters for that summer. Finally caught him when winter set in; he started breaking into cabins for food. He did a year in county for the assault and the burglaries. Lost his Post Board license and Sandy got full custody. He didn’t even get visitation rights.”