But what if it hadn’t been Dominic’s baby?

Will had no easy ­answers—­because Miriama had written nothing about the baby in her journal. Not even in relation to how the pregnancy might affect her internship. Either she hadn’t ­known… or that was the secret she’d obliquely mentioned at one point: I’ve become so good at keeping secrets. Until I can’t even write some things here, in a place no one else will ever look.

He got to his feet. “Thank you. I need to talk to some people, get those samples for you.” It was as he was putting his jacket back on that he felt the evidence bag inside. “I bagged her hairbrush for you.” It didn’t matter if everyone knew this was Miriama, they had to have official confirmation. Given the condition of the body, that meant DNA testing.

Ankita accepted the package, then walked him out to the car park.

As they stood in the dark lit by yellow lamps blurred by the ­now-­misty rain, she looked up at him. “I can’t officially make the accident or homicide call, but I trust your instincts. I hope you find the bastard who did this to ­her—­all that potential, all that life just snuffed out. No one has the right to do that.”

“I’ll call you if anything breaks,” he said, keeping a tight lid on his own anger. “Her aunt will be here soon.” He knew that without having to check. “Will you make sure Miriama isn’t alone until then?”

Ankita nodded. “I expected as much. She doesn’t need to see the body, Will.” Tired, empathic eyes. “I’ll speak with her, find a less traumatic way she can say ­good-­bye.”

“Thanks, Ankita.” Getting into his car after a final handshake, he watched Ankita return inside, then picked up his phone to call Anahera. “How are things?”

He could hear noises in the background, the sounds of people talking. It was no surprise when she said, “Town’s gathered in the firehouse. Matilda wanted people to talk about Miriama, celebrate her life. She gave me permission to share the news and told me to ask that everyone get together.” She took a breath. “Liaison officer got us clearance to do a karakia on the beach where I pulled her out of the water. Matilda left soon after.”

Prayer, Will knew, was important to Matilda. Being able to offer one at the site would’ve given her a small outlet for her grief. “Who’s with her?”

“A group of her closest friends. I’m handling the ­gathering—­after, I’m going over to Josie’s.”

Will started up his engine. “I’m on my way back. If things break up before I get there, make sure you have an escort back to Josie’­s—­Matthew, the Lees, the Duncans, none of their names have come up in the investigation.” He hesitated before saying, “Don’t get into Tom’s van.”

A sucked-­in breath on the other end. “You can’t just drop that bomb on me and not say anything else.”

“I found out something in his past that worries me, but right now, he’s not any higher on the list than anyone else. Avoid Peter Jacobs, too.” The mechanic might have an alibi for Miriama’s death, but the skeletal remains were another ­matter—­and Will hadn’t forgotten how Peter’s name had come up in an American rape investigation.

“Is Josie in danger?” Anahera demanded. “Her son?”

“No.” Anahera’s best friend fell outside the profile. “I’m being cautious, Ana. If I’m wrong, Josie never has to know anything.”

“Fine,” Anahera said at last, her tone clipped. “I wonder if I’ll trust anyone by the time this is over.”

Staring out at the bleak scene outside, Will thought of broken bones and missing flesh and a woman who’d never smile again. “Don’t go to the cabin.”

“No need for orders, cop. I’ve got no intention of ending up another victim.”

Though she didn’t ask him about Miriama, he could feel the questions on her lips. And he knew he’d probably break confidentiality and share what he’d learned. He could tell himself it was for a practical ­purpose—­because while he remained an outsider to many, Anahera was a local. People who wouldn’t necessarily talk to him with total frankness would talk to her.

But the truth was that he talked to her because he wanted to talk to her, wanted to get her input. A dangerous thing to think for a man who’d so long preferred distance from ­life—­especially about a woman so emotionally entwined with multiple suspects on his list. “We’ll talk when I get home.”

Her voice remained curt when she answered. “Drive safe.”

Hanging up, Will headed out. As he drove, he put aside Tom Taufa and Peter Jacobs, and considered two other men. Men who’d loved the same woman.

And he considered the puppy whose head had been bashed in with a rock.

55

Anahera had stayed by Matilda’s side until the ­karakia—­at that point, she’d been shooed away by an older woman who’d traveled from some distance outside town. That woman, like the other friends who’d gone with Matilda, had seen Miriama grow up, had helped mother the child she’d been, and now they would mourn with Matilda.

Eyelids swollen and nose red, new lines etched permanently into her face, Matilda had said, “I see her every time I close my eyes.” A hoarse whisper, her throat ragged from crying. “My pretty, kind Miriama with so much aroha in her heart.”

Twenty minutes later, when Matilda’s friend and her husband began to lead Matilda out to their car, which would follow the liaison officer’s vehicle, Matilda had looked back at Anahera. “Will you be all right, Ana?”

Humbled by the generosity of this woman who had suffered the loss of a cherished child, Anahera had nodded and told Matilda her intention to overnight at Josie’s.

Now, as the last of the gathered began to leave, she saw that Tom had already gone home. Relief was a weight off her shoulders. At least she didn’t have to come up with some excuse to not go with him.

Her stomach ached with the ugliness of feeling any kind of suspicion toward Josie’s husband. But there was no reason to believe she’d be in any danger in the family ­home—­and she could get a firsthand look at Josie and Tom together.

“Do you need a ride, Ana, dear?” asked a subdued Evelyn Triskell, her hands on the handles of her husband’s wheelchair.

“I’m okay, thank you,” she said. “Nikau brought his ­truck—­I’ll catch a ride with him.” She didn’t have her Jeep because Raewyn had driven them to the beach, then to the fire station.

As the Triskells nodded and continued on to their car, Anahera decided she’d organize better security for the cabin tomorrow so that she could return home. She wasn’t planning to be stupid, but neither did she intend to let fear drive her decisions. “Nik?” she said, walking over to him. “Can you run me over to Josie’s?” Her best friend hadn’t attended the gathering, too far along in her pregnancy to be around this much stress and pain. Anahera would’ve sent her home if she had turned up.

Nikau, still sporting a heavy five-­o’clock shadow that was turning into a beard, nodded. It wasn’t until they were in his truck that he said, “When’s your cop getting back?”