Page 134 of What She Saw
I stepped close enough to see the blood on what remained of his face. The bullet had traveled up the roof of his mouth into his brain. My stomach tightened, and I backed away.
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
My mind flipped through what I should do next. Call the cops? Call Susan? Call Grant?
I exited the house onto the back porch. The dog greeted me with a wagging tail, but as soon as I reached out to him, he sniffed my hands, legs, and feet. His ears flattened. “I found a big mess, fella.”
Sitting in a patio chair, I tugged treats and my phone from my pocket. I dumped what biscuits I had out on the patio and called 9-1-1.
The phone rang twice. “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“I’m reporting a suicide. Brian Fletcher shot himself.”
“Who is calling?”
I hesitated. “Sloane Grayson. I’m sitting on his back patio now. I just found him.”
“Are you sure he’s dead?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes.”
“The location?”
I rattled off the address.
“Stay on scene. We’ll have a car there in five minutes.”
“Will do.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’ll be on the back porch with the dog.”
“I can stay on the line until the officers arrive.”
“Not necessary.” I hung up. The dog nudged my hand, and I realized his large water bowl was empty. I filled it from the outside faucet and set it down. He lapped and slopped water on the deck.
I called Grant. He picked up on the third ring. “Sloane.”
“I’m at Brian Fletcher’s house. He shot himself.”
“What? You were supposed to wait for me.”
“I didn’t. And I found him in his study. The police are on their way.”
“Any sign of Susan?”
“All the pictures of her are gone.”
“Okay.”
“Right.”
Why would Brian Fletcher kill himself? He’d been protecting his daughter for thirty-one years. She must have called him and told himI’d found her. But again, why kill himself? Did he think his death would draw attention away from her to him?
I sat back down, closed my eyes, and tipped my face toward the sun. A twinge of remorse for Brian Fletcher snapped my skin like a rubber band.
Did he regret not coming forward sooner? If he had pressured his daughter to talk to the police three decades ago, would Colton’s accomplice have been found? His actions had let a coconspirator run free, and families still struggled for closure.
