“As for Robbie’s involvement in Brett’s death,” I said, “Crissy thought Brett went to Philly without her, remember? It wasn’t until Brett’s bones were recovered that she knew for sure taking meth and getting lost in the woods wasn’t nearly the worst thing that happened that night. Even then, she had no proof. Robbie’s well respected in town, he works for the Chamber of Commerce. Who would take Crissy’s word over his? Sure, she cleaned herself up, but people don’t forget the past that easily.”

My lengthy report concluded, I heaved a breath. “I can’t believe I missed it,” I said. “Robbie was right in front of me. He has a history with Crissy. It was there all along.”

“You figured it out in the end,” Tim said. “That’s what counts.”

But his attempt at reassurance didn’t find its mark. Sure, Russell Loming had been a strong suspect, and I had yet to hear an explanation for the missed days of work and new watch all those years ago, but I shouldn’t have been so farsighted. Meanwhile, Crissy’s friendship with Suze had given me an uncomfortable tingle from the start. If I’d paid it more attention instead of letting my theories about Loming, Felicia, and Abe consume me, I would have unearthed Brett’s murderer sooner.

A flaming log cracked inside the stove and settled with a sigh. In the clearing that doubled as Tim’s front yard, it was snowing hefty flakes, the kind that would stick and become the Thousand Islands’ first proper snowfall of the season. “So now what?” Tim said. “We did it. We know who killed Bram’s dad. Where do we go from here?”

“If everything up to this point is any indication, we’re still missing a link between what Bram’s doing here and what happened to Brett,” I said.

Now Mac was leaning forward, too. Her former career as an investigator had ended five years prior, but I knew she still missed the thrill of puzzling through cases. In the early morning light, her eyes blazed.

“What does Bram want?” she asked. “He roped you into investigating his father’s murder. Why?”

It was an excellent question. I tried to imagine Bram that night, back when he was just Abe. Crissy had told him the plan to leave. He could have seen Russell Loming negotiating with Brett for his share of the money, Crissy arguing with Robbie over drugs, Brett saying goodbye to Suze in his car. He might have overheard something that led him to believe Brett was in danger, and later, he snuck out of his house and rode his bike all the way to the refuge. How much had he seen?

“If Bram suspected something happened to Brett, he can’t have been sure who hurt him,” I said. “If he knew it was Robbie who killed his father, he would have gone after the guy himself.”

“That’s why he needed you to solve this,” said Tim. “But why wait so long? Why now?”

I rubbed circles into my temples. “I don’t know.”