“Brix Garrison was a patrolman,” said Kole. “He didn’t do investigations.”

“He never forgot about me,” said Eleanor. “Which is more than can be said of anyone else.” She began to walk again, toward a brick shed. The stones were mottled cream and black; Hudson wondered if the black was part of the brick, or if it was spores from coal dust. The extinct coal industry left a gritty film over every inch of the city, from which even the Reynolds estate wasn’t immune.

“Do you know he called every year on the anniversary of Clive’s disappearance?” Eleanor said, not looking at either of them. “That old rotary phone in the kitchen. That’s why I’ve always kept it, as much of an eyesore as it is. I know I could have given him my cell number and disposed of the thing, but…” A puff of air issued from her mouth. “I guess there was something ceremonious about it. Early on, in the first weeks, even months, since Clive’s disappearance, I used to imagine the phone ringing. I’d pick it up, and Officer Garrison would tell me that my husband had been found—alive—and I’d be so overwhelmed I’d fall into the chair by the desk.” She shook her head, turned slightly to glance at each of them. “Foolish, I know. How fantasies change when your husband disappears into thin air. And now they’re both … gone. Clive and the one person who knew his case as well as I did. And poor Morgan was there. How terrible.”

“Speaking of Morgan,” said Kole, “how did you connect with her? We know she photographed your Christmas party.”

“Her services were a gift, from my son, Bennett. He knows my penchant for photographs. He’s taken quite an interest in her.”

“What do you mean by interest, Mrs. Reynolds?” Hudson felt Kole’s side-eye like a laser beam.

“They went for a drink after the party,” obliged Eleanor. “And he certainly didn’t object to her being invited to the cabin for New Year’s. I’d say that qualifies as interest, wouldn’t you?” They arrived at the garage. She punched in a four-digit code on a stainless-steel keypad.

Hudson’s ears pricked to the sibilant sound of locks disengaging. Kole followed Eleanor inside, but he hung back for a moment, frozen in place. Morgan never told him she’d gone out with Bennett that night. In fact, when he’d interviewed her in his car, she’d insisted she was at the Reynolds estate the entire time, up until stopping at the Fast Mart for gas. Everything in him wanted to ask Eleanor if she knew where they’d gone, but Kole might actually kill him for straying too far off the topic of Garrison and how his death could link up with Clive’s disappearance.

He would have to ask Morgan later, and pray she didn’t run off and ghost him again. At least he could take comfort in the fact that she didn’t have the means to leave Black Harbor.