“The ownership was just a technicality. Our accountant suggested we put the house in her name, but I designed it. I laid the first brick. It’s just as much mine as it was hers.”

“And yet I’m just hearing about this now.”

“What do you want me to say, that I loved her? I did. I loved her. I’ve loved her since we were juniors in college. That’s why it is so infuriating that people would think I had something to do with what happened. Yes, I got a lot of money after she was gone, but I’d pay ten times that to have her back.”

Even Paul looks shocked at the words that just tumbled out of his mouth. His back slumps and his face goes apologetic. He smothers my hand in his. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant I didn’t want her to die. I certainly didn’t cause it.”

It’s true I don’t know everything about this man, but I know when he feels something deeply. Paul loved Katherine. If she were still here, I wouldn’t be. It’s as simple as that. And honestly, haven’t I known this all along?

The food turns solid in my stomach. “Micah said you were fighting before she died.”

Paul jerks in surprise. “He told you that?”

“No, he told Sam.” I don’t have to add that’s even worse.

Paul goes still, hurt and anger coloring his cheeks along with something else—confusion? He shakes his head, but he won’t quite look me in the eyes. “I mean, sure, we argued now and then, but nothing... Why would Micah say that, and to Sam, of all people? Micah had to have known what he would think.”

“And Pitts Cove?”

“You mean the deeds?” Paul pauses to receive my nod. “I own dozens of lots on multiple coves. It’s no secret that Pitts is one of them. Gwen knows it. The people down at the Register of Deeds know it. Those are public transactions subject to public knowledge, available for anyone who asks. It’s an investment, not some nefarious scheme to...I don’t know...bury some old bones.”

“State Road 32 is the one Bobby Holmes used to drive into the cove.”

“I know that. But Walsh Capital was petitioning the county to reroute 32 away from the lake. Walsh is basically the Walmart of developers. Fast. Flashy. Cheap. In and out like a plague of locusts. They wanted to scoot the road back and plop down a time-share. The kind with prefab condo buildings and a miniature golf course. Paddle boats shaped like swans and sunset lake cruises. Do you know what that would do to a place like Lake Crosby?”