She turned to walk away. Jack should let her go, but he touched her arm, stopping her. “Pauline seems to be comfortable talking to you. Let’s not mess with the rhythm. Stay a little longer.”

In Jim’s office, Jack pulled on gloves. A calendar was spread on the desk with handwritten appointments. Jack took a picture. The laptop was closed. He would leave that for a forensic tech. He didn’t see a physical filing cabinet.

Terra sighed. “I should go check on Pauline.”

Jack followed her out. Terra turned right, and Jack took a left to find himself in the last room down the hall—the laundry room. He stepped inside the space and spotted the washing machine. It appeared newfangled to him, but it could still be old. What did he know?

Pauline, appearing to have composed herself, stepped into the space. She had guests to attend to, he surmised, even though they had come to comfort her. Terra stood behind Pauline.

“Tell me about the day before when he called in about the Piper that crashed. Did he talk to you about that at all?” He remained focused on Pauline but didn’t miss the subtle surprise in Terra’s eyes. He’d only learned the news when Sarnes texted him with the information this morning.

“The Piper?”

“I mean the plane crash. He was the one who saved the pilot.” Coincidence? Or was his death related?

Pauline’s eyes almost brightened within her swollen, red features. “Yes. He came home breathless. Excited that he’d helped someone out.”

“What was he doing up in those woods?” Terra asked.

Pauline stared at Terra. “I thought he was on a mountain road near the airstrip and saw the plane go down.”

“Right, but do you know why he was in the area?” Jack asked.

Pauline frowned, and the tears came again. “I don’t know.”

Jack wasn’t making much headway in getting answers from Pauline.

“He was a hero, Pauline. You remember that,” Terra said.

Pauline leaned into her. “I know. He saved someone, but now he’s dead.”

The woman ran her hand over the top of the washing machine and released a heavy sigh. Jack stood back and took in the room where she’d had her last conversation with her husband. He glanced at the floor and spotted a small key.

With his hands still gloved, he picked it up. “What’s this?”

“That’s the key he kept in his wallet. It must have fallen out when he was looking for his credit card. He wanted to pay the man to make the repairs, and I wanted a new machine.”

He kept a key in his wallet? “Do you know what it unlocks?”