“My best guess is that you talked to Crissy at the movies,” I said. “Russell Loming saw her with a kid your age, and I’m sure that if I showed him your school photo, he’d be able to ID you even now. You and Crissy were arguing. Maybe you wanted a hit, maybe she wanted the same from you. However it played out, Crissy let it slip that she was leaving town with Brett and Abe that night. She even told you where Brett was meeting them. So you went out there, knowing Brett would have brought his entire stash along with his other belongings. By the time my brother showed up at the fishing access with Crissy, Brett was already lying dead in the woods. All you needed to do was get rid of his car.”

Cheryl clapped a pale hand over her mouth. “That’s some story,” Robbie said as he clasped his mother’s shoulder, just as he’d done to Felicia at the hospital. He gave me a patronizing smile, but two fuchsia circles had formed on his cheeks.

“You do a convincing job of pretending it doesn’t bother you that Suze and Crissy hang out,” I said.

“It doesn’t. I don’t give a shit what Crissy does.”

“I don’t think she’d say the same about you. I thought it was strange at first, the two of them getting close after circling each other’s orbits for so many years, but Suze told me how it happened. They became friends shortly after you and Suze got together. After all this time, Crissy finally found a way into your head. Don’t get me wrong,” I said, showing him my hands. “I think she genuinely cares about Suze, but Crissy remembers more about that night than she’s ever told anyone. She knows you regularly bought drugs from Loming, and that you had a hand in her doped-up adventure in the woods. She also knows you knew her dad was a dealer. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t believe Crissy has a clear picture of what you did to her father, but when his remains turned up not far from the boat access where she last saw him, she pieced it together. She’s a lot smarter than you think she is.”

Robbie’s lips were partially hidden by his beard, but I could read his expression through his wide, blank eyes. “I’d say that’s when you started to panic,” I went on. “It had to occur to you Crissy might remember you were at the boat launch, too. If she did, and she ever decided to tell Suze . . . well, desperate measures. I know you took an extra-long lunch today, Robbie, and I suspect I’ll be able to find a neighbor who saw your car outside Crissy’s house.”

“Do you even hear yourself? None of what you’re saying makes sense. I came here for lunch today—didn’t I, Ma? I was here.”

Cheryl bit her lip. I’d just seen her eat lunch alone. After a minute, though, she nodded. I pressed on.