Stride shook his head. “Someone masturbated near Laura’s body. We still have the semen that was collected. If Finn was there, we’ll be able to prove it.”
“I’m not letting you take a DNA sample from him.”
“We don’t need one. Finn provided a large sample of his blood on the floor of the bathroom in the Detective Bureau.”
“You took his blood off the floor?” Rikke asked. “What kind of barbarian are you? A man is dying, and all you can think about is your investigation?”
“My concern is with the victims,” Stride said. “I’m going to test his DNA. We’re going to find out that Finn was at the murder scene that night.”
“I’ll talk to my lawyer. He’ll put a stop to this rape of Finn’s body. You’re disgusting, do you know that? You’re an animal. You don’t understand what Finn has been through in his life.”
Stride squatted in front of her. “Finn took the car that night, didn’t he? When he came home, he was covered in blood. I think you did exactly what you did a few days ago. You covered up for him. You protected him.”
“I think you should go,” Rikke announced. “I have nothing more to say.”
“Finn was in love with Laura. He was obsessed with her. That’s how this all started.”
“You don’t know anything,” Rikke told him. “You should just leave it alone. Believe me, Finn’s problems began long before Laura.”
Serena rang the doorbell and waited. The Honda Civic that Tish drove was parked in the driveway of the lakefront condominium. Masking tape surrounded the edge of the windshield where the glass had been replaced. Across the street, Serena saw a Duluth police officer watching her from an unmarked police vehicle. She waved. He knew her.
It was after ten o’clock, but there were lights on inside the apartment. When there was no answer, she rang the bell again. This time, she saw Tish through the window as she came to the door. She wore a men’s white shirt that draped to the middle of her thighs. Her legs were bare. Tish opened the door, and tobacco wafted from her breath and clothes into the hot night air. The smell of smoke was mixed with the tart aroma of gin. Tish leaned against the doorway and picked at strands of her blond hair.
“Serena Dial,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping we could talk.”
Tish gave a casual shrug of her shoulders. “Okay.”
She turned away and wandered toward the rear of her condo. Serena came inside, closing the door behind her. The condo was sparsely decorated, without artwork on the white walls or curtains on the windows. The cream carpet under her feet was deep and lush, but the rental furniture was utilitarian. Serena saw a glass dining room table that doubled as a desk, where Tish kept her laptop and research notes. The kitchen counter was clean except for an empty box from a Lean Cuisine TV dinner and two drained bottles of Schweppes tonic.
She followed Tish onto the balcony. Tish sat in a folding chair, with her legs propped on the slats of the wooden railing. She had a drink in her hand and a cigarette smoldering in an ashtray on the floor. Her shirt slipped up, revealing a triangle of white bikini panties. Serena leaned on the balcony, which looked out on the black expanse of the lake. There was almost no bluff below them, just sixty feet of air and then dark water. Everything was calm, without even a breath of wind to stir the heat around.
Tish flicked a mosquito off her forearm. “I read about you,” she said.
“Oh?”
“I read about that guy who came after you last winter. You almost died.”
“You’re right. So?”
“That must have been terrifying.”
“It was.”
“I don’t think I would have survived an experience like that.”
“I don’t like to talk about it,” Serena said.
“Sure, I understand.” Tish added, “You know, when I first met you, I didn’t like you. I’m not sure I would have liked anyone that Stride was with.”
“Why is that?”
“Loyalty to Cindy, I guess.”
“And now?” Serena asked.
“Now I see that there’s a lot more to you than I realized.”
“How often does a girl get a compliment like that?” Serena said wryly.
“I just mean that when people meet you, I guess they don’t always see past the face and the killer body.”
“This body has a couple more pounds on it than I’d like.”
“You don’t have to be modest. Anyway, I shouldn’t have prejudged you. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” Serena said. “But I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“Stride and I have a lot in common. He may not show it the way I do, but we’re both damaged. Losing Cindy damaged him a lot.”
“I’m sure it did.”
“I don’t like seeing that pain dragged up for him again,” Serena said.
“You mean me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re honest.”
“What about you, Tish? Are you honest?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, did you really know Cindy?” Serena asked. “Or are you making it up? Because as far as I can tell, there’s no evidence that you ever even met Cindy. So if you’re playing games with us, I’m telling you right now that I will make you regret it.”
“I did know her.”
“Then why did she never mention you to Jonny?”
“Even the most loyal of women has secrets.” Tish picked up her cigarette with two fingers. “Don’t you keep secrets about yourself?”
“Some,” Serena admitted.
“There you go.”
“If I keep a secret, there’s a reason for it. Did Cindy have a reason to hide her relationship with you?”
“Maybe I asked her to.”
“Why would you do that?”
Tish swirled the ice in her drink and then drained the rest of it. “You already told me there are places in your own past that you don’t like to visit. Is it so hard to accept that I feel the same way? I wasn’t ready to come back here and face my past. Cindy understood.”
“Are you ready to face your past now?”
“I’m here. It took me thirty years, but I’m here.”