Colin could barely breathe. It wasn’t Atkinson and Lester. It was father and son circling the wagons, and all at once, the answers started cascading through his mind as quickly as Colin could form the questions.
Why hadn’t Margolis been more cautious at the bungalow?
Because he saw that Avery Manning, the father, was already there.
And Lester’s gun?
Dr. Manning had told Margolis the gun likely wasn’t real.
Why had Margolis gone inside?
Because Dr. Manning called out to him, assuring Margolis that everything was okay.
It fit; it all fit, he thought, clarity finally emerging.
But Lester was arrested.
Only because Colin was there to take him down. Otherwise, Lester might have escaped.
But Lester might talk.
The attorney Dr. Manning hired would make sure he didn’t.
But Dr. Manning had left a message for Margolis, urging him to warn Maria…
After the fact – too late to matter.
And Atkinson?
The man who failed to intervene when Laws abducted Cassie? Who Dr. Manning might feel deserves to be punished as well?
But Atkinson’s laptop… the photos, the files…
All of which made Atkinson the perfect fall guy.
By then, Colin was already reaching for his phone, the truth so obvious that he wasn’t sure how he could have missed it.
Who had the knowledge and skill necessary to manipulate Lester?
Dr. Manning, the psychiatrist.
How had Atkinson’s name come up in the first place?
Dr. Manning.
And Laws’s pattern of stalking Cassie?
Dr. Manning knew every detail.
Colin heard a voice on the other end of the phone. Wright, sounding busy and stressed.
“You again,” Wright said. “What’s up?”
“Check to see if Dr. Manning owns a blue Camry.”
Wright hesitated. “Hold on. Why?”
“Have someone check it out while I talk,” Colin said. “Just do it. It’s important.”
After he heard Wright call out the request to another officer, Colin told him everything. When he finished, Wright was quiet for a moment.
“That sounds a little far-fetched, don’t you think?” Wright said. “But if you’re right, Margolis will be able to clear all this up as soon as he regains consciousness. Besides…” Wright seemed to be wrestling with his own doubts.
“Yes?”
“It’s not as though Dr. Manning is trying to hide. Far from it – he was at the station last night and he was at the hospital today —”
“He was there?” Colin asked, feeling a mounting sense of panic.
“He spoke with Rachel. He wanted to apologize for what his son did and asked if it might be possible to speak with Pete, so that he could apologize to him, too.”
“Don’t let him near Margolis!” Colin shouted, panic giving way to fear.
“Keep it down,” Wright said. “Manning couldn’t see him. Even I couldn’t see him. Only family is allowed in the ICU —”
“Manning went there to kill him!” Colin interrupted. “He’s a medical doctor… He’d know what to do to make the death look natural.”
“Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”
“Lester didn’t shoot Margolis! Dr. Manning did! Lester had Margolis squarely in his sights, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. If you don’t believe me, test Lester’s hands for gunpowder residue.”
“That won’t tell us anything. It’s too late. Those tests get less effective by the hour —”
“I know I’m right about this!”
Wright was silent for a long moment. “Okay… but what about Atkinson’s computer?”
“Atkinson is dead,” Colin said with sudden certainty. “Dr. Manning killed him. Made it look like he went on a trip, took his car, planted evidence on the computer, made him the prime suspect, and planned it all.”
Wright said nothing. After a moment of silence, Colin heard the muffled sound of the detective speaking with someone else. Colin felt his frustration rising until Wright came back on the line, sounding slightly stunned.
“Dr. Manning,” Wright said slowly, “owns a blue Camry, and… I gotta go… I want to verify that the Camry was at the bungalow…”
Wright hung up midsentence.
Colin raced inside to update Maria, finding her still on the back porch with Evan and Lily, her parents, and a scattering of aunts and uncles. As Colin related his discoveries, Maria listened silently. By the end, her eyes were closed, and though the revelations were clearly frightening to her, he also sensed a kind of peace in her at finally knowing the truth. Her relatives, meanwhile, remained silent, all of them waiting for her to respond.
“Okay,” Maria finally said. “What’s next?”
“I’m guessing Wright will put out an APB on Dr. Manning and then do whatever else it is cops do when searching for a suspect and building a case.”
Maria thought about that. “But what about the pattern?” she finally ventured. “I mean, if Dr. Manning wanted me to experience everything Laws had done to Cassie, why would he have vandalized my place last night? He had to know that it would make it even more difficult to get to me. And why didn’t Lester grab me when he had the chance to…”
Beat me, maybe burn me alive, and then kill himself, she didn’t need to add. Colin remembered what Laws had done, but knew that Dr. Manning had never planned to kill himself. He’d wanted Atkinson’s body found in the ashes, which would close the case for good, leaving Dr. Manning a free man. All Colin could do was shake his head.