Page 105 of The Last Time I Lied

Flynn, who’s been steadily writing all this down in his notebook, pauses long enough to say, “How many times did the two of you engage in intercourse?”

“Once.”

“Do you remember the date?”

“Only because it was the Fourth of July,” Ben says. “I was working late that day, trying to milk the overtime money Mrs. Harris-White was offering. All the girls were at the campfire, and I was getting ready to go home when Vivian showed up. She didn’t say anything. She just came right up to me and kissed me. Then she walked away, looking over her shoulder to make sure I followed.”

He gives no further details. Not that I need them. I already know the rest.

What I don’t know is why.

“That Fourth of July was the night Miss Hawthorne and the others disappeared,” Flynn says.

Ben nods. “I know. I don’t need a reminder.”

“What did you do after it was over?”

“Vivian left before me. I remember she was in a hurry to get out of there. She said people would start to realize she was gone. So she got dressed and left.”

“And was that the last time you saw her?”

“Yes, sir, it was.” Ben pauses to scratch the back of his neck, giving the question more thought. “Sort of.”

“So you did see her again after that?”

“Not her,” Ben clarified. “Something she left behind.”

“I don’t follow,” Flynn says, speaking for all of us.

“I left the latrine not long after Vivian did. On the drive home, I realized my keys were missing. The ones I use for camp.”

“What do they access?”

“Camp buildings,” Ben says. “The Lodge. Mess hall. The toolshed and latrine.”

“The cabins?” Flynn asks.

Ben offers us another partial smirk. “I bet you wish it was that easy, but no. Not the cabins.”

Flynn again looks to Theo for confirmation. He gives a slight nod and says, “He’s telling the truth.”

“I thought they might have fallen out of my pocket in the latrine,” Ben continues. “Or maybe somewhere else. When I got to work the next morning, Vivian and the two others had already disappeared. At the time, no one seemed too worried. They’d only been gone a couple of hours, and everyone assumed they’d come back eventually. So I went looking for the keys. I ended up finding them at the toolshed behind the Lodge. The door was open. The keys were still in the lock.”

“And you think Miss Hawthorne left them there?”

“I do. I think she took them out of my pocket when we were in the latrine.”

“What was kept in the toolshed?” Flynn says.

“Equipment, mostly. The lawn mower. Chains for tires in winter. That kind of thing.”

“Why would she need to go to the toolshed?”

The question elicits a shrug from Ben. “Damned if I know.”

But I do. Vivian went there to retrieve a shovel. The same one she used to dig a hole that would eventually conceal her diary.

“You should have told us,” Theo says. “About all of it. But you didn’t, and now my family can never trust you again.”

---