“But here is the genius. When Thompson saw what he had done, he put Quinn back in Traveler and pulled the boat with Quinn’s body in it upstream. Upstream to Dead Man’s Hole. No one would ever think the murder occurred downstream from where Quinn was found. Thompson wrapped the anchor chain around Quinn’s leg and dropped him over the side. Then he waded back to his boat and floated home. The canoe paddle must have drifted away after Thompson hit Quinn with it.”
“What about Osterman and Hawken showing up at Thompson’s house?” Jacob said.
“I think that was an unhappy coincidence. Bad luck for Thompson.”
“I can’t believe you bluffed your way without the actual trust document,” Jacob said.
“I took a chance that the trust would require two signatures. Why else have two trustees.”
“What’s going to happen to Thompson?” Eve said.
“It’s one thing to get an acquittal. We had plenty of reasonable doubt. It’s another thing to prove Thompson did it.”
“And the custody fight?” Eve said.
“Thompson was getting worried. He wanted to make Lizzie look guilty. Now that Lizzie’s been acquitted, the custody suit will be dismissed.”
“Thompson would never kill Quinn. It had to be an accident,” Lizzie said.
“I’m sorry we thought Quinn might be somehow involved,” Jacob said.
Lizzie looked down at her lap, then at Burr. “This is all so terrible. I’ll never see Quinn again, and now this. With Thompson.”
“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” Burr said.
“I know we’re supposed to be celebrating, but it doesn’t feel much like a celebration.”
“What about Wes, Cox, the oil men and the drugs? And Cox’s threats?” Eve said.
“Those would be very difficult to prove. Lizzie, you would have to press charges against Cox. And that would bring Wes in.”
“They’re crimes,” Eve said.
“Some crimes go unpunished.”
“Josh and I need to get on with life without Quinn, and I need to find some peace with my father. I don’t see how we can ever see Thompson again.” She got up and started for the kitchen.
This isn’t a celebration. He caught up with her halfway to the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry.” He put his arms around her and hugged her.
* * *
Burr was wrapped up in a sleeping bag, but he was still shivering. He had lit Spindrift’s charcoal fireplace an hour ago, but it gave off about as much heat as a toaster. Even Zeke was cold, curled in a ball at Burr’s feet.
He had missed most of summer on a boat he couldn’t afford, but he was determined to take one last sail. As soon as it stopped snowing.
He pulled the sleeping bag up around his neck. Then he heard a tap-tap-tap on the hull. “Saints preserve us, Zeke.”
The dog looked up, barked once, and curled back up in a ball.
More tapping.
“Jacob, go away. I am blissfully freezing to death.”
More tapping.
“Damn it all.” He got to his feet, still wrapped up in the sleeping bag. He climbed the companionway, slid back the hatch cover and peered over the side.
There in the dinghy, Maggie and Finn. She smiled at him. Finn wagged her tail.
THE END
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my wife, Christi, for her encouragement, support, tolerance, patience, and most of all, her love.
To Ellen Jones for her copyediting, research, sage advice, and for her infuriating attention to detail.
To Laurie Supinski, Mark Lewison, Emmy Homan, Teresa Crumpton, Julie Spencer, and Steve Spencer for their help in editing the manuscript.
To Matt Supinski and Bob Linsenman for their technical help with the fly-fishing aspects of the book.
To Matt Supinski again for his friendship, encouragement, promotion and unflagging enthusiasm for the project.
To John Wickham for the cover design.
To Kathryn McLravy for managing my Facebook page.
To Allison Clemons for redesigning my website.
To Spencer McCormack for producing the trailer.
Thanks to Mission Point Press: C.D. Dahlquist for her careful editing, Bob Deck for the book’s interior design, and Doug Weaver, who kept it all on schedule.
About the Author
Mr. Cutter is a recovering attorney. He lives with his wife, two dogs and four cats in East Lansing. He has a leaky sailboat in Harbor Springs and a leakier duck boat on Saginaw Bay.
Also by Charles Cutter
Copyright © 2019 by Charles Cutter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or by the publisher. Requests for permission should be made in writing to Mission Point Press, 2554 Chandler Road, Traverse City, Michigan, 49696.
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters are the products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Mission Point Press
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Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 421-9513
www.MissionPointPress.com
Print ISBN-13: 978-1-950659-14-2
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition/First Printing
Cover design: John Wickham
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