"I’m not so sure. They seemed nervous, like they were hiding something. Too quick to try to blame someone else."

"Natural reaction. No one wants to think their friends are capable of murder."

Jo bit into the donut, and a blob of jelly squirted onto her finger. She licked it off. "What about Jesse? I saw him scratching a bug bite last night. He probably was at the campground even though he said no. Which means he lied. I mean, I know he’s not a pillar of society, but murder?"

"He could have gotten a bug bite anywhere." White Rock was loaded with wilderness, and the bugs could be persistent even in the middle of town. "I know what you mean, though. Seems like Lynn’s friends would be pretty dumb to lie about Jesse being there. Too easy to prove them wrong. And most of them agreed he was there, so unless they were all in on it, I think it’s a good bet he was there. But why would Jesse lie?"

Finished with the donut, Jo flipped the plastic tab on her lid and sipped the coffee. "Who knows with him. Probably didn’t want to get into trouble and denied it as his first reaction. Maybe he isn’t smart enough to figure out we’d catch him. Unless there is more going on with him that we don’t know about."

"I guess I’ll be paying him a visit," Sam said. "In the meantime, we need to find out more about Lynn’s finances. I know the company isn’t doing well, but she has a stake in it. That stake might be worth something after this new game is released. Which makes me wonder exactly who would benefit from that in the event of her death."

Chapter Eleven

Sam dropped Jo at the station and headed to Riddell’s Auto Body, where Jesse worked, finishing off his coffee on the way. His stomach growled. Maybe he should have grabbed one of those jelly donuts.

He parked in the dirt lot and casually walked into the shop.

The waiting room was open to the service area, and he could hear the clank of metal tools and smell the grease and engine oil. Three people sat in the waiting room, bored looks on their faces as they stared at the syndicated talk show that played on the TV in the corner. Jesse was in bay number three, working on securing the lug nuts of a tire.

He looked up as Sam approached, a frown creasing his forehead. He stood. His navy-blue coveralls were smeared with grease, and judging by the look on his face, Sam knew he’d guessed he wasn’t there for an oil change.

"Hey, man, I’m at work here." Jesse glanced around nervously.

Sam had picked his workplace on purpose, knowing Jesse wouldn’t be able to walk away from him. Not only that, but Sam was friends with the owner. He glanced over at the fat, balding man. "Hey, Al, you mind if I have a word with Jesse?"

Al’s dark eyes were expressionless as he shook his head.

Sam jerked his head toward the back door, and Jesse wiped his hands on the front of his coveralls, adding a new grease smear in the process.

The landscaping in back of the shop consisted of a patch of dry dirt ringed with weeds. Jesse leaned against the thickly painted off-white cinderblock wall and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He was trying to act casual, but Sam could see he was nervous.

"If this is about that camping girl, I didn’t have anything to do with it. I told you I wasn’t there," Jesse said.

"Really? I’ve got half the campground that says you were."

Jesse looked down and dug at the dirt with the toe of a scuffed black work boot. "I wasn’t at their campsite."

So he had been lying. Sam had a good idea why. He knew a lot about what went on in town. He didn’t always act on what he knew, which made some people assume that he wasn’t clued in. Sam didn’t mind that at all. In fact, he preferred it when people underestimated him. It made them act sloppy, and when people acted sloppy, they made mistakes. Sam knew that Jesse had recently started dealing pot, and his guess was that was what he had been doing at the campground.

Sam figured Jesse had lied because he didn’t want to get caught selling pot. It was still illegal in New Hampshire. But Sam couldn’t give a crap about that—next to catching a murderer, nailing someone for selling pot was way down on his list.

Sam thought about his suspicions that Thorne was the reason for the uptick in drugs in the area. Not just pot—it was much worse. Meth, heroin, cocaine. One minor pot dealer was nothing compared to catching the guy at the top of the chain. Much better to keep on friendly terms with Jesse. That alliance might come in handy later.

Sam leaned against the wall close to Jesse. He was taller by about five inches and used the intimidating size difference to his advantage. "But you were at the campground. And rumor has it you were doing a little business there."

Jesse’s eyes darted around like a scared rabbit’s, looking anywhere but Sam’s face. "Look, I don’t want to get in trouble. I don’t know anything about that girl."

"Jesse, do you know what the sentence is for selling marijuana?"

Jesse’s shoulders slumped, and all the wind whooshed out of him. Turned out he wasn’t as tough as he liked to pretend. He caved easily. "I don’t normally sell it. It’s not like I’m a big dealer or anything. I just needed some extra money."

"Where’d you get it?"

"I don’t know."

Sam lowered his voice and spoke slowly and steadily. He looked him dead in the eye. "You don’t know? I’m not buying that, Jesse, and neither will the judge."

Sam paused for a few seconds to let his words sink in then added, "But I might be willing to make you a deal if you tell me the truth about what happened last night."

Jesse looked suspicious. "What kind of deal?"

"I won’t breathe a word about your illegal extracurricular activities. In fact, unless you have any on you right now, I’m going to forget all about it."

Jesse spread his hands. Not so tough now. "I don’t have any on me. I swear."

Sam simply waited.

"Okay. I was there last night. I’d seen her in the bar. She was cute. And we struck up a conversation. I met her friends, and I mentioned I had some weed, and they invited me back after the bar closed. But all we did was drink and smoke a few joints, and then I left. I swear she was alive when I left."

"Can anyone verify this?" Sam asked.

"Well, yeah, all the people at the campsite. I only stayed for about an hour and then went home."

"You didn’t go anywhere else or see anyone?"

Jesse thought a minute. "I stopped to get gas at Cumbies then went straight home. Brian, my roommate, was already in bed."

"When you were at the campsite, did you see anything unusual? Was anybody angry with Lynn, or did anyone act funny around her?"

Jesse thought for a minute. "Come to think of it, I did see something. Not at the campsite. When we were in the bar. There was a blonde with them. She was kinda cute too, but she was with one of the guys. I saw her follow that girl, Lynn, to the ladies’ room, and when I went down the hallway to the men’s room shortly thereafter, I heard them in there having a rip-roaring argument."

"What were they arguing about?"

"I have no idea, but they must’ve made up. They didn’t argue at the campsite." Jesse eyed Sam cautiously. "So do we have a deal?"

Sam studied him for a minute and then nodded.

Relief spread across Jesse’s face. "Good, now I gotta get back to work."

Jesse turned and went inside the building.

Sam smiled. He had Jesse right where he wanted him now. He’d done Jesse a favor. So now if Sam got more evidence that Thorne really was involved in all the drugs coming into town, maybe Jesse would see his way to returning that favor by letting Sam know who he had gotten the drugs from. That person might be the next step in proving that Thorne was the source.