“He also bought rope, a tarp, and a hacksaw,” Boone adds.
“That’s not illegal,” Wilma says.
“But it is suspicious if your wife has suddenly disappeared,” I say.
“Not if she left of her own accord after getting into a heated argument with her husband.”
I give Wilma a curious look. “Are you married, Detective?”
“Seventeen years strong.”
“And have you ever gotten into a heated argument with your husband?”
“Too many to count,” she says. “He’s as stubborn as a mule.”
“After those arguments, have you ever gone out and bought things you could use to hide his body?”
Wilma pushes off the railing and drifts to the rocking chairs, handing me the binoculars in the process. She sits, twisting the scrunchie around her wrist in a compulsive way that makes me think it doesn’t belong to her daughter at all.
“You seriously think Tom Royce is over there right now chopping up his wife?” she says.
“Maybe,” I say, slightly horrified that not only am I thinking it, but I now consider it a more likely scenario than Katherine running away after an argument with her husband.
Wilma sighs. “I’m not sure what you want me to do here.”
“Confirm that Tom Royce is lying,” I say.
“It’s not that simple.”
“You’re with the state police. Can’t you trace Katherine’s phone to check and see if she’s called someone today? Or look at her bank and credit card records?”
Impatience thins Wilma’s voice as she says, “We could do all of those things—if Katherine is reported missing to the local authorities. But I’m going to be straight with you here, if you do it, they’re not going to believe you. People are usually reported missing by someone closer to them. Like a spouse. Unless Katherine has other family members you might know about who are also worried about her.”
Boone looks to me and shakes his head, confirming that both of us are clueless about Katherine’s next of kin.
“That’s what I thought,” Wilma says.
“I guess searching the house is out of the question,” I say.
“It most definitely is,” Wilma says. “We’d need a warrant, and to get that we’d need a clear indication of foul play, which doesn’t exist. Tom Royce buying rope and a hacksaw isn’t the smoking gun you think it is.”
“But what about the scream?” Boone says. “Both of us heard it.”
“Have you considered that maybe Katherine had an accident?” Wilma looks to me. “You told me she almost drowned the other day. Maybe it happened again.”
“Then why hasn’t Tom reported it yet?” I say.
“When your husband went missing, why didn’t you report it?”
I had assumed Wilma knew all about that. She might even have been one of the cops I talked to afterwards, although I have no memory of her. What I do know is that, by bringing it up now, she can be a stone-cold bitch when she wants to be.
“His body was found before I got the chance,” I say through a jaw so clenched my teeth ache. “Because people immediately went looking for him. Unlike Tom Royce. Which makes me think he’s not concerned about Katherine because he knows where she is and what happened to her.”
Wilma holds my gaze, and the look in her large hazel eyes is both apologetic and admiring. I think I earned her respect. And, possibly, her trust, because she breaks eye contact and says, “That’s a valid point.”
“Damn right it is,” I say.
This earns me another look from Wilma, although this time her eyes seem to say, Let’s not get too cocky.
“Here’s what I’m going to do.” She stands, stretches, gives the scrunchie on her wrist one last twirl. “I’ll do a little digging and see if anyone else has heard from Katherine. Hopefully someone has and this is all just a big misunderstanding.”
“What should we do?” I say.
“Nothing. That’s what you should do. Just sit tight and wait to hear from me.” Wilma starts to leave the porch, gesturing to the binoculars as she goes. “And for God’s sake, stop spying on your neighbors. Go watch TV or something.”
After Wilma leaves, taking Boone with her, I try to follow the detective’s advice and watch TV. In the den, sitting in the shadow of the moose head on the wall, I watch the Weather Channel map the storm’s progress. Trish, despite no longer being a hurricane, is still wreaking havoc in the Northeast. Right now, she’s over Pennsylvania and about to bring her strong winds and record rains into New York.