Page 51 of Fatal Fame
"What was the reason for the breakup?"
"Personal differences. Rebecca wanted things I wasn't ready to provide — commitment, marriage, a timeline for our future that I couldn't meet while dealing with my own career pressures and obligations. She wasn’t in a good head space. I didn’t need the drama."
Noah studied Torres' body language, looking for signs of deception or emotional manipulation. What he saw was genuine discomfort at discussing personal history, but also the controlled responses of someone who'd been through this questioning before.
"Where were you on the night Rebecca and Jacob were killed?"
"Working a security detail—Oktoberfest Weekend in High Peaks. As you know, officers often pick up those gigs for extra pay. Dozens of witnesses saw me there throughout the evening, then I went home. All documented in the original case file."
"Has anyone contacted you recently about the Hale case? Besides Pierce Landry?"
"Not recently. And frankly, I'd prefer to keep it that way. I answered a full interview with a national show ten years ago. That period of my life was difficult enough without having it dragged up again for entertainment purposes."
The interview continued for another forty minutes, with Noah probing for connections between Torres and Pierce's investigation, any knowledge of threats against the podcaster, orinvolvement in the larger conspiracy that seemed to surround the original murders. Torres maintained his story consistently, he'd avoided contact with Pierce, had no knowledge of current threats, and wanted only to protect his family from renewed attention to his past relationship. It all seemed legitimate.
"One final question," Noah said as they prepared to conclude the interview. "Do you have any theories about who might have wanted Rebecca dead?"
Torres considered the question with obvious care. "Mr. Sutherland, I've been out of law enforcement for some time, so I'm not current on local criminal activity. I also don’t know. Rebecca was a kind person. But she was seeing other people besides me. That influenced my decision to part ways.”
“And Pierce?”
“What do you think? Pierce was asking questions about a case that touched a lot of people's lives. Some of those people might have reasons to prefer that certain aspects of the investigation stay buried. He also had a lot of haters. You can find those comments everywhere online."
"Anyone that comes to mind?"
"No. But I'd suggest looking at anyone who had influence over the original investigation, people who might have guided it away from inconvenient conclusions or toward convenient suspects."
As they left Torres' office, Noah reflected on what they'd learned. The real estate agent had been cooperative but guarded, providing alibis and explanations that seemed consistent but revealed little about current threats to Pierce's investigation.
"What's your assessment?" McKenzie asked as they drove back toward the Sheriff's Office.
Noah considered what they'd learned from both the witness interview and the conversation with Torres. "Dale Hutchins gave us useful information that supports the timeline that matchesTorres. As for Torres? His connection to the case is historical, and his current life doesn't intersect with Pierce's investigation in any obvious way."
"So back to Marcus?"
"Right now what we have is hearsay. The call could have been a different Marcus. We build the case against our Marcus while keeping our options open. The witness sighting adds weight to the circumstantial evidence, but we're still missing the kind of direct proof that would justify an arrest. We need to check with the hotel again about their cameras."
Noah's phone buzzed with a text from the state crime lab: preliminary results from the cabin scene analysis would be available within twenty-four hours. That information might provide the forensic blood evidence needed to move forward with an arrest or it might complicate their investigation by pointing toward additional suspects.
"There's something else bothering me," Noah continued. "If Marcus was involved in Pierce’s disappearance over money disputes or creative differences, why the elaborate staging at the cabin? Why burn everything and eliminate evidence so thoroughly? Why not just leave his body there? Why put his name out there?"
"Maybe he's smarter than we're giving him credit for. Or maybe he had help from someone with more experience in covering up crimes. Or maybe it was a message to us, to look into the owner of the cabin. Which we have. For all we know, this could be part of an elaborate plan by that podcast team to get more eyeballs on this case."
“You think Pierce is alive?” Noah asked.
“Until we have a body, all we can do is speculate, right?”
He nodded.
The possibility that Pierce's disappearance involved multiple perpetrators added complexity that made Noah's stomachtighten. If they were dealing with a conspiracy rather than individual criminal action, the investigation could expand to include suspects they hadn't yet identified.
18
The lunch crowd at Riverside Park moved with the relaxed energy of people escaping office routines for an hour of autumn sunshine and food truck cuisine. Mia arrived early, choosing a picnic table with clear sightlines and her back to the Saranac River, habits inherited from a childhood spent around law enforcement officers who thought tactically even during casual outings.
The October air smelled of fried onions from the Adirondack Grill truck, wood smoke from someone's backyard fire, and the crisp promise of winter that would transform the mountains from a tourist destination to an endurance test.
Families with young children occupied tables near the playground, while clusters of what looked like state workers grabbed quick meals between meetings that determined local policy and federal funding.
