Hannah stirred. “But why were you always so sure that it was murder in the first place? Why couldn’t it have been an accident?”
“Because they found her in Hidden Cove. Said she must have been up on the path in the middle of the night. Doesn’t make sense. Why would she go out there?”
“To meet a man?” Hannah suggested gently.
Dell gave her a derisive look. “She had her own house. And a car, too. She didn’t have to go to someplace like Hidden Cove to fool around.”
“Unless she didn’t want to be seen with whoever she met there,” Rafe said bluntly. “Which lets me out. She sure didn’t mind having people see her with me.”
Hannah pursed her lips, thinking. “Maybe she didn’t go out there to meet anyone. Maybe she just went there to meditate.”
“Meditate?” Dell looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Kaitlin wasn’t into that kinda weird stuff.”
“Everyone needs to get away to a quiet place to think about their future once in a while,” Hannah persisted. But she noticed that Rafe was now looking at her strangely too. Obviously neither of these two considered Kaitlin to be the thoughtful, introspective type.
“Not Kaitlin.” Dell took a swallow from his can of soda and wiped his mouth with the back of a stained sleeve. “She had her future down cold. Didn’t need to do any meditating on it. Kaitlin always had big plans, y’know?”
A tingle of expectation shot through Hannah. She and Rafe exchanged nods. She turned back to Dell.
“Why do you say that Kaitlin didn’t have to do any meditating on her future?” she asked carefully.
“She already knew what she was going to do. Called me that night.” Dell studied his soda can intently. “Said she’d had enough of this town. She was gonna leave first thing in the morning and never come back.”
“Are you telling us that you spoke with Kaitlin just before she died?” Rafe asked.
“Yeah. Like I said, she called me. Woke me up. She was still really mad at you, y’know? Said she’d had it with everyone here. All losers, she said.”
“How did she plan to finance this final exit?” Rafe asked.
Dell sucked in a deep breath and took another swallow of soda. He lowered the can slowly and peered into the middle distance. Looking into the past. “She told me that she was going to use her nuclear option.”
Rafe did not move. “What the hell was that?”
Dell hesitated. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth. She never was real clear about it. I got the feeling that she had some cash stashed away. Figured one of her boyfriends had given it to her. Or maybe someone gave her a piece of fancy jewelry she thought she could sell.”
Hannah’s mouth went dry. She said nothing.
“Let me get this straight.” Rafe sounded as if he was choosing his words with exquisite care. “You’re saying that she left me on the beach that night, went home, and called you to tell you that she was going to go nuclear and then leave town?”
“The next thing I know,” Dell said dully, “Yates is pounding on my door. Come to tell me Kaitlin’s dead.”
“And you told him you were pretty sure I’d killed her—is that it?”
“Well, yeah,” Dell muttered.
“Follow your own logic for a while here,” Rafe said. “How did I know she was headed for Hidden Cove?”
“I figure you went to her place. You killed her there and then dumped her body in Hidden Cove.”
Rafe groaned. “Well, it’s a theory. I’ll give you that much.”
“Kaitlin wasn’t like me,” Dell pleaded to Hannah. “She wanted to get out of this town. Be someone. She had dreams, y’see? Lots of ’em. Big ones.”
“I understand,” Hannah said.
“But none of ’em ever worked out for her.” Dell gave a sad sigh. “Seemed like everything always went wrong. I was her brother, y’know, but there was never anything I could do to fix things for her.”
Rafe frowned. “It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t straighten out her problems, Dell.”
“Maybe. But it just seemed like I shoulda been able to do something, y’know?”
“Yeah,” Rafe said. “I know. Sometimes you’ve just got to live with the fact that there wasn’t anything you could do.”
Dell nodded bleakly. “Thought I’d put it all behind me. Told myself it was finished. Then you two showed up in town together. Made it clear you planned to hang around awhile. People started talking about what happened that night again.”
Rafe looked at him. “When Yates came around asking questions, did he say whether or not he had searched Kaitlin’s house?”
“He went through the place real thoroughly. Her car, too. I was with him when he did it,” Dell said morosely. “Said he was looking for a suicide note, but he tore that place apart, y’know? Why would he do that if he was just lookin’ for a note? I mean, if she’d left one, she would have put it in plain sight, don’t you think? Why leave a note if you don’t want it to be found?”
“You’re right,” Rafe said. “She’d have left it in plain sight.”
Hannah gripped the edge of her chair very tightly. “Do you recall whether or not Yates pulled out her washer and dryer to check behind them?”
Dell nodded. “And the refrigerator, too. Like I said, he really went through her stuff. But I know she didn’t jump off that cliff. There was no note. I told him she wasn’t the type to commit suicide. Asked him what he was really looking for.”
Hannah watched him. “What did he say?”
“Said he’d know it if he found it. But he didn’t find anything.”
They all sat in silence for a time. After a while Dell sighed heavily and drained the last of his soda. “I didn’t try to kill your dog, Hannah.”
“I believe you,” Hannah said. “You wouldn’t hurt an innocent animal.”
Dell nodded and said nothing.
“There’s something else,” Hannah said. “Rafe didn’t kill Kaitlin. I really was with him that night on the beach near the Arch. There was no way he could have followed your sister home, let alone kill her and take her body to Hidden Cove. You have my word on it.”
Dell did not move for a long time. Then he looked at Rafe. “If it wasn’t you, who was it?”