"What if I've got something on Carl that might keep him from harassing you? All you need to do is tell him you know about it."
The change in his expression pleased Sadie. Cricking her finger to get him to follow her into the van, she said, “I've got something unbelievable to tell you."
After listening to her detailed suspicions and hearing what she had found at the Fossums’ residence, Lon stared in disbelief.
"You got all this because one of Nan 's clients complained about their life insurance policy?"
"Well, kind of,” Sadie said. “I put two and two together…"
"But what made you think Paul was involved?"
"It's a long story, but it mostly boils down to Aanders telling me how Tim overheard Paul threaten his father."
"That's quite a stretch. They'll laugh me out of the station if I tell them I want to have Richard's car examined for gun shots."
Sadie watched a puzzled expression cross Lon's face. “The fact I could be right should be enough for you to investigate. With the evidence I saw on Richard's desk, it should prove Paul was scamming his clients. I'll bet you ten bucks Richard was going to turn him in to the authorities and Paul got scared."
"You were an idiot for breaking into Richard's house. I can't believe you did that. What if Paul had found you in the pantry? If he killed Richard, he could have killed you too."
"But he didn't. That's all that matters. Now we've got to figure out a way to get those papers from Paul."
"We?” Lon said. “You're done sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. I'll take it from here."
"But maybe I can help by making an appointment with Paul to talk about insurance. I can get Jane to stop in and distract him while I check out his desk."
"You've been watching too much television. It's not done that way. We need a search warrant, but before I can request one I need more evidence."
"Well you better hurry, because Paul will probably destroy the evidence."
Lon paused as he sorted through what Sadie had told him. “A few things that happened recently are staring to make sense. Richard missed a golf date because he said he forgot. Richard lived to golf. Something drastic had to have happened for him to forget a thing like that. Now you're telling me Aanders said Paul threatened Tim's dad. Maybe there's something to that."
"There is. Richard figure out what Paul was doing and Paul had to stop him. Now you've got to figure out a way to examine the car."
"If Carl gets wind I'm investigating his best friend, he'll run me out of the department,” Lon said. “I'll never work in law enforcement again."
"You can't let Paul get away with this. You owe it to the Fossums to at least check out their car. Something made them go off the road. It's too much of a coincidence they died just hours after Paul and Richard argued."
"I've got a friend who owns a repair shop. I know I can trust him to keep his mouth shut,” Lon said. “If we find any evidence, I'll talk to the sheriff about a search warrant for Paul's office. We need to find the papers Paul took. I'll be in touch, Sadie. Don't do anything else foolish."
29
A small rental car pulled to a stop in front of Sadie's cabin. A wire-haired terrier yipped wildly as Erma Pouliot waved a greeting to Sadie and let the dog scamper toward the porch swing. The dog resumed his high-pitched greeting, bouncing excitedly in front of Sadie.
Sadie grabbed one of the swing's support chains and pulled herself up. As she walked to meet the Pouliots, the swing continued to sway and the dog continued to bark.
Gregg Pouliot flipped his sun glasses up and peered at the swing. “Your swing must catch a breeze off the lake. I wish we'd had that breeze. It's been hotter than a honeymoon this past week."
"Quit complaining. This was the best vacation we've had in twenty years.” Turning toward Sadie, Erma said, “We had to stop before we left to thank you for the enjoyable stay. You've got a great place here. I've never been so relaxed in all my life."
"I'm glad you enjoyed your stay. We think of Witt's End as our little piece of paradise."
Gregg pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his forehead. “That miracle we witnessed yesterday still has me reeling. I don't now how that kid made it to shore. By all rights his folks should be planning his funeral."
"It just goes to show miracles can happen,” Sadie said, winking at Lora, who had remained on the swing.
"Yes, but there's no way that kid should have made it to shore. He disappeared below the water line and then all of a sudden he was lying on the beach. Now you explain that to me."
"I wasn't there, but I heard about it,” Sadie said.
Slipping her arm into the crook of her husband's elbow, Erma said, “The main thing is the boy survived."
Sadie joined them as they walked back to their car. Erma called to the dog, which had jumped up and settled comfortably on the swaying swing. The dog ignored Erma until his mistress said, “Come here right now, Mr. Twister. If you don't, you're going to have to ride in the back seat.
"We stopped at the lodge to make sure you remembered to book our reservation for next summer. The manager said it was taken care of.” She squeezed Sadie's hand. “We can't thank you enough for your hospitality."
"Holy cats,” Sadie blurted as she looked into their car through the rear window. “Did you leave anything on the gift shop shelves?"
"You know my wife,” Gregg said. “She's always thinking of the grandkids. I bought a few things for them myself. I called my grandson and told him about that huge fish I caught. He insisted I bring him one of those yellow lures you sell in the bait shop so he could catch one, too."
Beaming, Erma said, “We've got eight grandchildren, you know. We have to treat them equally or we'd have a war on our hands."
"By the looks of it, you didn't forget anyone. Is your trunk full, too?” Sadie said.
Gregg patted his chest and Mr. Twister jumped into his arms. “The trunk's empty. We put everything in the back seat. That way the guy at the airport can load our stuff on his baggage cart and we don't have to worry about forgetting anything."
A voice from a few cabins away hailed the Pouliots. “Don't forget you promised to spend a couple of hours with us before you have to catch your plane. We've got some photos to show you."
Gregg looked at his watch. “Two hours. That's just about right. Do you mind if we leave the car here for a while?"
After the couple walked away, Sadie joined Lora on the swing and leaned into the gaunt woman's shoulder. “You did a wonderful thing saving that child's life yesterday."
"Anyone would have done it,” Lora said. “I heard that man say he witnessed a miracle. But all I did was swim out and pull that child to shore. His friends were too young to know what to do.” She shrugged. “Everybody panicked and just stood there. So I dove in."
"Did you ever think about what really makes miracles happen?” Sadie asked. “Since I've been a death coach, I've come to believe crossers have a big hand in making them happen. I'm not saying all miracles are crosser related, but I know for a fact some are."
Lora smiled in appreciation. “You have a way of making me look at things differently. If I could spend more time with you, I'd learn a lot."
"I know you don't like it when I preach at you, but I have a question."
"I've already lost Michael. I don't think any amount of preaching could make me feel any more miserable,” Lora said.
"You didn't think twice about saving that child's life.” Seeing Lora shrug again, Sadie said, “What puzzles me is why you insisted on forcing Michael to rejoin his father. That's a complete contradiction. You recognized when someone else's child was in danger, but you were willing to lead Michael right back into harm's way."
A teardrop rolled off Lora's cheek and settled on the back of her hand. “You're judging me when you don't understand."
"There's nothing to understand, Lora. Your husband was abusive and that pattern will continue. Why was Michael able to sort through that cloud of uncertainty, but you can't?” Sadie wiped at Lora's teardrop with her finger. “I don't mean to be unkind, but Michael appears to be the smart one in the family."