Page 28 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
“Well, I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out.”
And she strode out of the alley like she had a clue where she was going. But hey—when you’ve committed to the dramatic entrance (and departure), you had to stay committed. It was the rule.
Fifteen
“This isn’t what I had in mind.”
“My understanding is that you had nothing in mind.”
“Hey! Well, okay. Technically that’s correct.” Ava looked around the park and had to admit, it was a lovely day to talk about murder in a public place filled with frolicking children. But that was how Minnesota got you. It occasionally gave you a perfect summery day and tricked you into thinking it didn’t suck the rest of the time.
The most duplicitous state in the union! Besides New Jersey, which has a bad rap but is actually pretty great.
They’d walked a half mile to the Lowertown Dog Park (so they were going to discuss murder near childrenandtheir beloved pets), and Tom had had very little to say, which should have been awkward but wasn’t. When he did say something
(“That’s the building where the accountant was strangled with his ex-wife’s bra.”)
it was morbidly fascinating. Who knew the capital of Minnesota was such a hotbed of exotic/weird murders?
I should be alarmed. I should be very, very alarmed, or at leastput off. But he’s so earnest. He really wants me to understand the area’s murder-ey history. He’s like a ghoulish tour guide! A ripped, intense, ghoulish tour guide.
Before long they were sitting at a picnic table while Tom outlined what he’d learned from Danielle’s case and last night’s shenanigans.
“Wait, you just carry these around?” she asked, indicating the files.
“Yes.”
Asked and answered. Dr. Baker is nothing if not straightforward.
“The police were unable to find a motive for Danielle’s death. She wasn’t pregnant, she wasn’t seeing anyone, she was well liked and had a healthy family life. She was going to graduate soon—”
Ava nodded. “Yeah, our grad was coming up in another few weeks.”
“—and was going to the U of M in the fall. No drama that anyone could find.”
“Clearly you don’t remember high school girls,” Ava pointed out. “Let’s amend that to ‘no unusual drama.’”
“As you like. So I got to thinking… what if Danielle wasn’t the target?”
“Well… maybe… but why assume I was? I wasn’t pregnant or seeing anyone, and I might not have been homecoming queen, but I wasn’t the school Igor, either.”
“That’s what I’d like to figure out. First we hypothesize—”
“Is that what we’re doing?”
“—and then we prove or disprove.”
“Well, what do the cops think?”
Tom sighed. “The police for the most part disagree with my theory. Which is understandable.”
“Because…?” Who could doubt this guy? This meticulous, efficient guy who pulled all-nighters and drove around with autopsy folders in his trunk and kissed like it was about to be outlawed? Someone like that wasn’t prone to wild leaps of imagination.
“Because it’s a cold case—though it’s been dusted off due to last night’s vandalism. I need more than a theory to rekindle their interest in solving Danielle’s murder.”
“Okay. But can I ask you something? Why this case? You knew all about Danielle before we met. You didn’t just learn all this last night. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re going over and above, but you’ve gotta have bunches of unsolveds in your files.”
He nodded. “Every medical examiner does. But I was only a teenager when Danielle was killed.”
