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“God, this is so awful.”
She motioned for him to sit down; he did.
Cal was a pleasant-looking guy. Twenty-nine, according to his driver’s license. Dark hair, a bit on the long side, curled up at the ends. Eyelashes that belonged on a girl. Dimples. Blue eyes. A bit skinny. No record, two parking tickets—both paid—and honorably discharged from the Coast Guard.
“I want to follow up on your statement from Friday night. At this point, the FBI is running the investigation with the full cooperation of the sheriff’s office. I have your statement taken by Officer Redfield.”
“Yeah. Whatever you need. Anything.”
“Start with why you didn’t go to work that night.”
“Kyle.” His face fell and he closed his eyes.
“Kyle Richards,” she prompted. She wanted him to tell the story in his own way.
“I liked him. He was a good kid. Doing the five-year college plan but would have graduated next year. Anyway, I asked him to cover because Jamie and I had an argument, and I wanted to make things right. Jamie’s my fiancée.”
Everything he said tracked with what he’d told Redfield. “What was your argument about?”
“A misunderstanding.” He paused. “Why? Is that important?”
“I need to confirm your alibi.”
She wanted a reaction. His reaction was confusion. “Alibi? Why?”
“You were supposed to be working on theWater Lily, and you called out last minute.”
“Oh.” He didn’t sound suspicious. “It’s kind of complicated.”
“You should know that I’ll also be talking to Jamie. Just to make sure everyone’s statements line up.”
“Jamie? Why? She’s so upset about this. She loved Neil. I mean, like a dad, not like a guy. Her dad travels a lot. She rarely sees him.”
That, Kara hadn’t known. “Jamie knew Neil? How well?”
“She works at the Fish & Brew. He came in a lot, they became friendly, and then when her car was in the shop, he loaned her his truck for a week. Just... I mean, no strings. He even watched Hazel a couple times when our babysitter canceled last minute.”
“Hazel is your daughter?”
He smiled, a genuine smile. He pulled out his phone and showed her a photo of a toddler with curly dark hair and big blue eyes.
He took another lingering look at the photo, then put his phone facedown. “Anyway, Neil has a daughter Jamie’s age. He misses her a lot because she’s in the Navy, stationed in Japan. He hadn’t seen her since Christmas. I think he enjoyed spending time with Jamie and Hazel.”
“Did Neil ever talk to you about an old case he was investigating?”
“About those college kids who drowned? Yeah, a bit. Why?”
She didn’t answer. “Did he share with you any details about what he’d uncovered? Why he thought it wasn’t an accident?”
“Not really. I mean, sometimes he would just talk things out when he was working on the boat, you know? So not really telling me anything, just chatting.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Uh—why?”
“Cal, it’s not a trick question.”
He shrugged. “Well, okay, um...a couple weeks ago we were working, a charter gig—big extended family wanted a sightseeing tour. They got off at Orcas for a picnic, and Neil and I were talking while we waited. He asked me about holding grudges.”
