Page 48 of The Fall Back Plan
I’ve been thinking about this since the Oakleys left. I spent some time checking both their social media and Jolie’s. As best I can tell, Jolie only has Facebook, and her settings are too restricted to gather much. I’ll need to compliment her on that. Sloane is on Facebook and Instagram, and she even stars in the TikToks of one of the elementary school PTAs. They’re goofy, but she probably thinks they’re cute. I couldn’t find any trace of Jolie following any of those accounts.
I lean back in my chair. “What’s your relationship with Sloane Oakley like?”
Her face darkens, her lips pressing together in a thin line before she answers. “We don’t have one.”
“But you recently had an interaction?”
She snorts. “Interaction. Yeah, we did.”
“I’ve heard her version of it. What’s yours?”
“Are you investigating me?” Her tone holds a trace of disbelief. “You don’t believe her, do you?”
“This is why I came in yesterday, Jo. I do—”
“Don’t you ‘Jo’ me, Lucas Cole. You do not get to investigate me for a bogus charge and still call me Jo.”
I sigh. “Fine, Ms. McGraw.” She frowns. “I went to the Mockingbird myself because I felt like it’s the least I can do. I have a detective on this investigation, and technically, it should be her job. But I didn’t feel right about sending her over without at least a heads-up, not after how you’ve helped me. So I came myself.”
She studies me for a minute, gnawing the inside of her cheek, and I have a flashback to tutoring, watching her do the same thing. She did it when I was being especially moody, like I was the problem she was trying to solve instead of the problem sets in the math book.
“I appreciate that, but I didn’t hear you say anywhere in there that you don’t think it’s me.”
I don’t, but she’s part of an official investigation now, so I can’t say that. “Ms. McGraw, this is standard operating procedure. I’m going to call in Detective Slocum right now to have her conduct this interview. We’ll keep it official. That way, there won’t be any question about whether we did our jobs correctly.”
“This is an official interview now? Is that another word for interrogation? Do I need a lawyer for this?”
I shake my head. “You’re not under arrest. We’re trying to gather information. You can choose to have an attorney present.”
Jolie gives me a long stare, and this time I sense contempt in it. I want to tell her I know it’s not her. I don’t blame her for feeling this way. That’s exactly why I’m bringing in Slocum. She’ll clear it up, Jolie can walk out without a new stress hanging over her, and then I can talk to her in my unofficial capacity as Lucas to find out why she rejected me for a date I didn’t ask her on, and how I can change her answer when I ask her out for real.
“You can come back to my house, walk the whole thing right this second when I’ve had no warning, poke in every closet, open every drawer, and you’re not going to find a doll anywhere,” she says. “I didn’t do it, so there is literally no way to charge me with anything. Bring her in.”
I pick up my phone. “Slocum, Jolie McGraw is in my office to answer any questions you might have.” I hang up and tell Jolie, “She’ll be here in a minute.”
Deputy Slocum knocks on my door in half that time, but those thirty seconds feel like forever while Jolie and I sit in silence, her stewing and refusing to meet my eyes.
“Sheriff,” Slocum says when I call for her to enter.
I introduce her to Jolie. “She’ll be glad to answer any questions you have.” I haven’t told Slocum about my friendship with Jolie because the moment it became relevant, it also became important that I not influence Slocum by making her think she needs to investigate Jolie differently based on our . . . acquaintance with each other.
“Thank you for coming in, Ms. McGraw,” Slocum says. “I need to confer with the sheriff for a brief moment. Pardon me.”
She hands me her cell phone, and I have to force myself to keep my expression blank as I realize what I’m looking at. It’s a new post from first thing this morning in Happenings: “Sounds like the Doll Bandit is the owner of the new bar on Maple. These dolls started showing up when she got to town, and she’s got bad blood with some of the moms of these girls.”
I must not do a good enough job with my face because Jolie tenses. “What, Lucas?”
Slocum shifts at Jolie’s use of my first name. She’s one of my investigators because she’s sharp, and that’s not the kind of detail that will slip by her.
“Ms. McGraw, do you follow the Harvest Hollow Happenings Instagram, where they share town news—”
“Gossip, you mean?” She’s already reaching into her pocket for her phone.
“That one,” Slocum confirms.
“I do,” Jolie says, tapping on her screen. She’s quiet for a few seconds until she spots the post. She gives a small, irritated grunt. It’s really cute. Not that I let that show in my face either. “Great. Looks like you aren’t the only one Sloane ran her mouth off to.”
“You know Sloane Oakley-Hunsaker?” Slocum asked.
