All Good People Here(84)

This even explained why Luke had lied to Margot about not knowing the Jacobs family. He was keeping Krissy’s secret too, not to avoid gossip, not to prevent Billy from getting hurt, but to protect his wife and niece: Rebecca, who’d tried for years to get pregnant; Margot, who was young and already felt unloved by her own parents. What it would’ve done to her to learn that the little boy and girl across the street were actually the children of the man she considered her own father, she didn’t know.

Relief flooded through her. Of course, her uncle had known he was the twins’ father. It must’ve been obvious. Even though Krissy was also having sex with Billy at the time, if she’d slept with Luke that summer and nine months later gave birth, Luke would’ve known it was a fifty-fifty shot that the twins were his. And now that Margot thought of it, she could even see the resemblance. It was vague—Krissy’s features were far more pronounced—but there was a slight dimple in Jace’s and January’s chins that reminded Margot of her uncle, a certain curl to their chestnut-colored hair.

Margot explained all of this to Jodie, who listened with a line between her brows and an unfocused look in her eye.

“Okay…” she said after Margot had finished. “But even so, Krissy told your uncle the truth, and within hours, she was dead. That’s not a coincidence. Even if he’d already guessed he was the twins’ father, we don’t know how that conversation between him and Krissy went. She lied to him for over twenty years. It’s the only logical explanation there is.”

But the accusation held no weight for Margot now. She was convinced Luke hadn’t killed Krissy for hiding the truth because he’d already known the truth. Nor had he killed January; he’d loved her.

I’m worried about her, Luke had said to Margot the previous evening. She’s been asking a lot about January. I’m afraid she’ll find out what really happened. Far from some ominous indication of guilt, Margot now realized that her uncle had just been trying to protect her younger self. For a long time, she had been told, by all the adults in her life, that January’s death was an accident. Luke had been worried how six-year-old Margot would handle learning that her closest friend had actually been murdered. Just as he’d done his entire life, her uncle had been looking out for her. For the first time in twenty-four hours, Margot felt her shoulders relax.

“Margot!”

She looked at Jodie, her eyebrows raised in question.

“Did you hear me? I said it’s the only explanation.”

“Jodie…I know you believe what you’re saying is true, but it’s all based on one coincidence. It’s just a guess. You don’t have any evidence, right? You don’t have any proof.”

“I don’t need proof. I know Krissy and she didn’t kill herself.”

Margot didn’t respond. After all, what could she say to that? Then something occurred to her. “Wait a second. Did you write that message on the Jacobs barn to somehow frame my uncle for January’s death? Because you think he killed Krissy?” It wouldn’t have made much sense if she had—the barn message didn’t point to Luke—but Jodie was desperate, and desperation made people do illogical things all the time.

“What?” Jodie shook her head. “No. I told you. I was trying to help you connect January’s death to Natalie Clark. I’m not lying about that.”

Margot looked into Jodie’s eyes, and after a moment decided she believed her. “So…you believe January’s killer is still out there? That he’s some stranger?”

Jodie nodded. “It’s what Krissy thought. After Jace explained what had happened that night, Krissy started to believe the story she’d tried to fake was actually right all along. But in trying to protect Jace, she messed up the crime scene so much no one could ever prove it.”

Margot sat still for a long moment. The man Jodie was describing, of course, was Elliott Wallace. Other than perhaps Pete, it seemed this woman was the only person in the country who would believe Margot’s theory about Wallace being behind January’s death. And Jodie had been close to Krissy, knew more about the Jacobs family than almost anyone. On top of that, she was motivated to catch the man who’d ruined her partner’s life.

A decision slowly formed in Margot’s mind. Maybe it was stupid to trust this woman, stupid to ask for her help. While Jodie believed January’s killer was still out there, she also thought that Margot’s uncle was a murderer. For a lot of reasons, Pete would have made a far better ally, and yet Jodie was the one who’d proven she didn’t mind breaking the rules. And what Margot needed help with required just that.

“I think I can clear Krissy’s name,” Margot said. “Because I know who killed January. And Natalie Clark. And this little girl from Ohio named Polly Limon. His name’s Elliott Wallace. And I think I know how to find him.”





THIRTY-ONE


    Margot, 2019


Two hours later, Margot and Jodie pulled up to the curb outside the storage unit in Waterford Mills. It was just after midnight, and there was nothing but one old streetlight to cut through the darkness. Margot gazed out the car window at the little facility, then turned to Jodie in the front seat.

“You sure you’re okay doing this?”

Earlier, from the back seat of Jodie’s car, Margot had told the woman everything she knew about Elliott Wallace, from her interview with him three years ago, to scoping out the storage facility.