The Edge

Devine wanted to see Alex’s reaction to being here, because that might actually help him understand her better. And he thought he was going to have to do that in order to figure out what was really going on.

She had put on an overcoat and scarf and a ski cap pulled down low over her ears. The wind had picked up even more, and they watched as dark clouds gathered just off the coast.

“Looks like snow or sleet is coming,” said Devine.

“Let’s hope not,” she said.

“You don’t like the white stuff?”

“I teach my art class late this afternoon. I don’t want to miss it.”

She looked around as they walked across the field toward the forest and the wide path through it to the bluff overlooking the ocean.

And then something happened to Alex. She started to sway and then she cried out and Devine barely caught her before she slumped to the ground.

“Are you all right?” he exclaimed. “Look, I’m sorry for bringing you here. I didn’t stop to think about the effect it might have on you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes unfocused and her expression woozy. She slowly came around and then managed to stand without his assistance.

“We can go back,” he offered.

She looked at the open field and shuddered. “No, I’m here now. Let’s get this done.”

As they entered the path she seemed normal again, even walking with spirit. He wondered why that was, since they were getting closer to, not farther away from, where her sister’s body had been found.

He led her to the edge of the land, and they gazed down at the rocks and the ocean.

“Is this where she was killed?” she said.

“It appears so.”

She shot him a perplexed look. “What do you mean ‘appears’?”

“I meant it exactly as I said.”

She indicated the rocks. “But her body was found down there.”

“Yes, that is a fact. Everything else is speculation.”

“You’ve lost me.”

Devine didn’t answer. He was thinking about possibilities that he would need to parse through if he was going to get to the truth.

Jenny had been shot in the forehead, and the round exited out the back of her skull and apparently vanished into the ocean. That meant she was looking landward. But if you went to the edge here, wouldn’t you be looking at the ocean? Since that was the whole point of coming to this spot. The casing had been found more than three hundred yards away from where Jenny had fallen. At night she wouldn’t have even been able to see her shooter from that distance. And if she had turned to leave before she was shot squarely in the forehead, would she have been close enough to the edge to topple over it?

“Why did you want me to come here?” she asked, pulling him from these thoughts.

“I need to know if this spot had some special significance for Jenny.”

“None that I know of. Do you think she might have come here to think?”

“In the pouring rain late at night? No, I doubt it.”

“Then you think she came here with someone? Her killer?”

Devine didn’t answer because he was the one doing the questioning, not her. “Did your sister ever talk to you about her work?”

“No. Wasn’t it confidential?”

“Did she say it was?”

“No, and I didn’t ask. I was used to our father being unable to talk about political stuff.”

“Right. He served on the Senate Intelligence Committee.”

“I was never interested in any of that. And he and I—”

“—weren’t close?”

“Jenny was his favorite. And I was a distant third behind Dak.”

“Jenny was interested in politics?”

“Jenny was interested in everything,” she said wearily.

“And you? What are you interested in?”

“My art. And now my students.”

Devine thought about what Pat Kingman had said, that Alex had changed years ago, going from outgoing and fun to introverted and... scared, diving back into her hidey-hole at Jocelyn Point after venturing out for short intervals. But she was teaching at the local school, so maybe she was getting over whatever had caused her to change.

“I’m having dinner with Dak tonight. Would you like to join us? My treat?”

She frowned and looked away. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”

As they walked back to the Tahoe, Devine said, “Did your sister have any enemies here?”

“Not that I know of. She was adored in Putnam.”

“But, again, you intimated that you didn’t share the general opinion that Jenny was a wonderful person, regardless of whether you remember saying it or not. You did.”

She wheeled around on him, seemingly itching for a fight. “Look, I meant nothing more than the people with those general opinions never had to live with her. She was a tough act to follow. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her or make me any less sorry that she’s dead. So don’t try to put words in my mouth.”

“I can understand the hard-act-to-follow piece.”

“Can you really?” she said skeptically.

“My two older siblings are roaring successes in their chosen and highly compensated fields. Me, not so much.”

She gazed at him with a sudden look of empathy. “Oh, well... being a federal agent isn’t a small accomplishment...” Her voice trailed off as they walked.