Twenty-Nine
“The assistant crown attorney called before we left this morning.” Daphne leaned over to whisper in Beck’s ear, and their adjacent steel-and-red-plush seats creaked underneath them. “Joseph and Jill each got six-month suspended sentences for withholding evidence.”
Beck wrenched around and squinted at black theatre doors. Melissa was in the lobby, returning any moment. The film was about to start.
“But they left him in the woods to die,” Beck said.
Daphne tilted her head rhythmically. “Mm-hmm – but the police aren’t going to pursue it because they can’t prove anything. Melissa’s dad was drunk, and he wandered into a remote forest without a hat or gloves on the coldest day of winter. So technically, his death was accidental. Also, because Jill had kicked him out, a case could
