“At the end of Crow’s Nest.”
Liam nodded. “And where is Crow’s Nest?”
Sybilla had to get on the outside of a heaping spoonful of sundae before she could answer. Age had certainly not interfered with her appetite. “It’s off Backstay, which is off Telltale.” She saw his expression and relented. “It’s in the Full Sail Subdivision, about five miles out East Bay Road. The developer was a sailor.”
“Who knew?” Wy said.
He already had his phone out and Wy could see he had called up Google Maps. “Where on Crow’s Nest, Sybilla? What’s the street address?”
She scraped her bowl with the spoon. “It’s the last cabin at the end of Crow’s Nest. Way up high, far away from anyone else.” Her smile was dreamy. “Stanley and I spent as much time there as we could spare from our jobs. Our aerie, we called it.”
Liam pocketed his phone. “Well, thanks, Sybilla—”
Wy touched his arm and he looked at her. “Sybilla,” she said, “you said you had warned Erik, when he came to ask you if he could rent your cabin.”
Sybilla licked her spoon and set it and the bowl aside with regret. “Yes, I did. Erik was one of my students. Well, both of them were.” She sighed. “That’s the best age, ten, when everything is bright and shiny and new, when nothing is impossible, when they’ll believe anything you tell them without question, learn everything you have to offer and beg for more. Josh and Erik were inseparable.” She folded her hands in front of her and stared into the past.
Liam would have said something, but again, Wy touched his arm. She waited long enough for the question to be only inquiring, not interrogational, and kept her tone gentle. “Who was Josh, Sybilla?”
Sybilla blinked at her. “Josh? Didn’t I say? Joshua Petroff. He was Erik’s best friend.” She shook her head. “I never believed all that rubbish they said about Erik afterward. He was attacked and left for dead. It was ridiculous to insinuate that he was faking his amnesia. People can be so cruel, and to say such things of a ten-year-old boy was unconscionable.” Her eyes flashed. “And I said so at the time.”
Liam had his phone out again and was doing another search. Wy guessed it was of Joshua Petroff. When he went rigid beside her, she was sure of it. “Why did you warn Erik, Sybilla?” she said.
“Warn Erik?” Sybilla looked bewildered. “Whatever are you talking about, my dear? Erik who?”
As they got up to leave Wy thanked Sybilla for lunch and Sybilla said brightly, “Don’t forget tea on Sunday.” She gave Liam an up-from-under look. “And bring your nice young man with you.”
He surprised her by stooping to kiss her cheek. “I wouldn’t miss it, Sybilla.”
She blushed and smiled.
Outside, Wy said, “Can I come with you to check out the cabin?” She wanted to see what an aerie looked like.
Liam stood with his hands on his hips, frowning at his feet. She recognized the signs and waited. It was a good five minutes before he looked up again. “Ride with me.”
“Okay.” She climbed into his pickup and was surprised when they got to Sourdough that he didn’t turn left to head out East Bay Road. Instead he continued down Alder to the post.
He pulled in and killed the engine. “Come inside with me and follow my lead.”
“Okay?”
Ms. Petroff was at her desk, looking every bit as terrifyingly poised as Liam had described. “Ms. Petroff, this is my wife, Wyanet Chouinard.”
“How do you do, Ms. Chouinard.”
Wy bit back a smile and said gravely, “Ms. Petroff.”
Liam led the way to his office. He had left the door open. Wy felt her amusement fade when she understood what that meant.
He stood in front of the map that covered half of one wall. “What did Sybilla say, Wy?” he said in a voice pitched to carry. “About five miles out East Bay Road?”
“Yes,” she said, at a matching volume. “And all the streets were named for sailboat parts or something weird like that.”
“Let’s see if we can find it on this map.” He poked his head out the door. “Ms. Petroff? Do you have a ruler I could borrow?” Wy closed her eyes and shook her head. Subtle Liam was not.
“Of course, sir.” Did Ms. Petroff’s voice sound a little higher? A drawer opened and closed, followed by footsteps.
“Thanks.” He ducked back into the office. He wasn’t smiling. Wy took the ruler and held it against the bar scale and then against the road. “That’s about five miles.”
They brought their faces close to the map. “There?”
Wy pushed his finger away. “No, there.”
Mainsail Drive was a left turn off East Bay Road and if the elevation contours were accurate, climbed nine hundred feet in a series of twists and turns to end just beneath the bluff that held up the road their own house was on, Heavenly View Drive. There were many streets in the subdivision but the scale wasn’t large enough to include their names.
Wy looked at Liam, eyebrows raised.
He stepped back from the map, still speaking in that unnaturally loud voice. “Damn it, I’ve got that interview with Garfield at three o’clock and it’s going to be a long one. I can’t get out there and back in time. I’ll have to wait until afterward.”
Garfield? Wy mouthed at him, and he made a come-along motion with his hand.
“I’ve got some errands to run,” she said obediently. “Why don’t we meet up at home and drive out after dinner?”
She was rewarded by an
