Page 17 of Beneath Still Waters

Ferd ended the call. “You didn’t answer my question. How do you think he knew where to find Bailey? Why not call the police first to find out where the body was? Or the hospital? Why the funeral home? If he just found out about Bailey’s death, why assume he was there unless he knew there had been an autopsy and that it had been three days since he died?”

Duke shrugged. “Maybe he knows that in small towns, there might not be anywhere but the funeral home to perform one? Maybe he just assumed? I can’t immediately label this guy a killer just because he acted rude to Maddie.”

She’d picked up on the awkwardness between them. “What’s with you two? Did you date?” She grinned at his sudden ruddy cheeks.

“Absolutely not. I don’t date people I have to work with. Ever.”

Good, because that made working with him a lot easier.

“Where was Bailey from?” She changed the subject to avoid having to answer questions about her own motives.

“California. I knew Bailey for three years. Met him on the shores once in a while when I would go running, just like he did that day you met him. Never once did he mention California. He loved Wyoming. He loved the lake and the people of Piper’s Ridge. While he had his issues, he wasn’t unruly. I never locked the guy up. Not once.”

She relaxed into the seat and laid her head against the backrest. “That dichotomy had crossed my mind. He was everyone’s friend, but no one’s. Everyone we’ve talked to knew he had a drinking problem, but no one seemed to care. I’ve heard of happy drunks, but he didn’t seem happy. Granted, his boat was missing when I met him, but he really didn’t seem like he enjoyed life at all.”

“He did drink but he did it alone. The way he smelled the day at the beach confirmed that. It was like that every time I met him. He never drank at bars or with people. If he was mean, no one knew it.”

So, he had to have been ashamed of his habit. “Since everyone knew he was drinking, he must have done some of it outside his home, or he went out after a binge, right?” Otherwise, how would everyone know?

“He did some at the bar, I think. The lady who cleans his apartment is a gossip. That’s how most people know the extent of his problem.” Duke frowned. “We all assumed she knew what she was talking about. Maybe it’s time to talk to her.”

Ferd pulled out her phone and opened the Notes app. “Tell me about her.”

“Her name is Kelly Whilhelm. She’s in her early twenties. Didn’t want to leave home to go to college, so she opened her own cleaning business instead. She’s doing well at it. Her onlyissue is that whatever she finds in your home, she makes it her business.”

“And if it’s her business, it’s everyone’s.” Every community she’d ever known had one of those. “What if he wasn’t really a drunk? What if she saw alcohol in the fridge but it never changed? I’m not saying I’m right, but we’re making a pretty big assumption based on a rumor. One my own brother might have even fallen for, and he sees cases like this all the time among people who've recently used.”

“Yeah, he does. I don’t think I could do his job,” Duke muttered.

She didn’t need justification to have left. This life was her own to live. She hadn't realized how badly she'd needed to hear that validation. “Thanks. I thought I wanted to work there until I realized the emotions needed to do a good job, didn’t end up in my DNA.”

Duke pulled over in front of the only bar in Piper’s Ridge. No one in her family drank. Not even recreationally. “I’ve never set foot in a bar.” She pushed open her door and got out.

“Well, during the day it’s very different from at night. I’ve only gone in here when I have to. Though I have ordered a to-go container full of French fries. Can’t lie. They are pretty good.”

“Probably because they’ve been using the same oil since before I was born, but I’m not going to judge.” Ferd straightened her spine and shook her hands to release the tension.

“You’ll be fine. I’m just going to ask them how often he came in, what he usually ordered, would they say he was drunk when he left, those kinds of things.”

She gave a nod and followed him to the door. “Then we go talk to the cleaner?”

“That’s the plan.” He whipped open the door, and the smell of oily food and stale popcorn assailed her nose. Better than what she’d thought she’d be smelling.

“Duke, didn’t expect you in here today. Need an order?” The woman at the bar wiped the counter with a white cloth.

“Not today. Have time for a few questions?” He strode toward her.

Ferd followed, opting to keep her mouth shut since no one around here could possibly have a clue who she was.

The woman waved the cloth at the empty room. “I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of tables to keep up with.” She smirked. “Have a seat.”

Duke took a place at the bar on a stool that barely raised him above his standing height. Ferd had to use the bar around the bottom to climb up.

“Can I get anything for you?” The bartender glanced her way while still standing directly in front of Duke, leaning forward into his personal space.

“No, I’m good. Thanks.” Duke didn’t seem to notice. Maybe he was used to the attention.

“Jonie, has Kelly been in recently?”