CHAPTER 86

GRANT

I was working the scene with Shirley Priest, and she was the one who noticed that something was strange about the scene. I mean, more strange than just dead bodies and a creepy setup. She picked up on the twelfth-birthday cake, which I guess was identical to the one that was at the Folcrum Party crime scene. And I shrugged it off because lots of twelve-year-olds have chocolate cakes. But she kept finding things that she thought were the same, so we called into the office and had them pull the file, and sure enough, they were like twins of each other. A rich twin and a poor twin, but yeah. Twins in terms of setting, at least. The bodies didn't match up.

—Ethan Way, crime scene technician

It had been hours, and the detectives were still here. Once the house had been cleared and the EMTs had verified Perla was already deceased, a large number of them had left, but the forensic teams were still working, and her body was still inside.

Now the sun was beginning to peek over the tips of the oaks, bathing the house in a warm golden light. The rays shone off the copper porch railings, and I thought of Perla's insistence on the material even though the price had been exorbitant.

We'd have to sell the house. I wasn't sure I could even sleep in it again, not with the awareness of what could have and did happen. I closed my eyes and ticked through where we could go tonight. A hotel seemed cold, but maybe there was a vacation rental somewhere close, somewhere we could stay for a few weeks until we sorted things out.

"Mr. Wultz?" I turned to see Detective Heinwright approaching, his face tight. My chest instantly seized at what it could be.

"Yes?"

"We need to talk to you about your sister and her connection to all of this."

Well, that hadn't taken them long. I rubbed my fingers across my lips, then spoke. "I'd like to wait for my attorney to arrive first. He's on his way."

Detective Heinwright regarded me for a long moment, and it was in that moment when we crossed to opposite sides of the line. He held the stare long enough to make sure I felt it, then nodded. "Yeah, I thought you might say that."

It sounded like a challenge of my innocence, but I didn't refute it.