Melissa rolled her eyes. “That’s it? You want to verify that Mike and Betsy broke into a house and she got pregnant?”
“Take a seat,” Pam said. “There’s a lot more to it, and you’re attitude isn’t making it any easier.”
Melissa looked at her watch. “Look, I’m on duty and I have patients who need me. I don’t have time for a game of twenty questions. Cut to the chase or I’m out of here.”
Floyd gave her a withering glare. “Melissa, take the chip off your shoulder and sit down. We can ask you questions here politely, or we can arrest you for obstruction of justice and take you to Pine City for questioning. Which would you prefer?”
“You’ve got nothing to arrest me for. Nothing. Now ask your questions and let me get back to work.”
“Are you related to the Bradshaws who own the Round Lake house?” Floyd asked.
“Rick Bradshaw is my mother’s brother.”
“You used to spend time with them on the lake, and that’s how you knew about the hidden key?” Pam asked.
“They told me about the spare key and told me to use it anytime I wanted to. There is no crime involved if I used something that was offered to me.”
“However,” Floyd said, “you got upset when your friends used it after you took them there for a party. Correct?”
“Wouldn’t you get upset? I mean, they go out there without me and leave a mess. After I found out I had to go back and spend a day cleaning up.”
“What happened after Aaron showed up at the house?” Floyd asked.
Melissa froze. “I don’t know what you mean. When did Aaron show up?”
“Cut the crap. Ken Solstad left Aaron tied to a tree by Passenger Lake. Kathy went back and cut him loose. They broke into a cabin and turned on the furnace so he could warm up. He stole an ATV and rode it to Bradshaw’s Round Lake house the day he disappeared.” Floyd paused to let the words sink in. “What happened after he got to Round Lake?”
“I…I don’t know.” The starch was coming out of Melissa’s resolve as she spoke.
“You do know, and we need to get to the bottom of it,” Pam said. “Were you the last person to see him alive?”
Tears welled in Melissa’s eyes and she shook her head. “No. I don’t know. Can’t you just let it be?” She reached for a tissue on the small table in the corner. “Aaron’s gone. Ken’s gone. It’s all ancient history.”
“What happened to Aaron at the Round Lake house?” Floyd asked softly.
“Don’t you understand? It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to Aaron’s mother,” Pam said. “She’s suffering from major depression and still holding out hope that he’ll call some day.”
Melissa closed her eyes, gripped the table edge, and let out a sigh. “Ken killed Aaron and left his body in the house.” She broke into tears.
There was a light knock on the door and it opened a crack. A woman in paisley scrubs stuck her head in and saw Melissa crying. Floyd leaned forward so she could see his uniform. “We need a few more minutes.”
The woman stepped in and knelt next to Melissa. “Are you okay?” she asked, gently putting her hand on Melissa’s arm. “Did something happen to your parents?”
Melissa shook her head. “I’ll be back on the floor in a few minutes. See if Gina can cover for me a little while longer.”
When the door closed Floyd asked, “Were you there when it happened?”
“No,” she said, blowing her nose and shaking her head. “After I yelled at her, Betsy and Mike went back to clean up the house. Aaron showed up first, and then Ken. I guess they got in a big fight and Mike told Betsy they’d better leave. All three of them had taken the Ecstasy Kenny brought to the bar and they were crashing. I went out later and found Aaron slumped on the table, dead. So, you see, there’s no crime left to pursue. Aaron’s dead, and so is Ken.”
“How did Ken kill him?” Pam asked, reflecting on Ken’s handiwork with the knife the previous night.
“I think maybe Ken strangled him,” Melissa said. “I’m not a medical examiner, and I didn’t know much about death then, but he was…dead.”
“Why didn’t you call 911?”
“It didn’t seem to matter anymore, especially when we found out Ken was dead too.”
“What happened to Aaron’s body?”
Melissa opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. “I think I need to talk to a lawyer.”
CHAPTER 45
Floyd called the county attorney’s office from his cellphone while Melissa called a lawyer from the phone in the consultation room. The county attorney’s secretary answered the phone.
“Jenny, this is Floyd Swenson. I need to talk to anyone who’s in the office.”
“I’m sorry, Floyd, but it’s noon and everyone’s out to lunch or in court.”
Floyd looked at his watch, having lost track of time. “Leave a message for Tom to call me on my cellphone.”
“He’s in court all day. He’s personally prosecuting the Haglund case with Rick assisting.”
“Who is in the office this afternoon?”
“Me. Everyone else is out.”
“Can you get a message to Tom? Tell him I’ve had a break in the Aaron Roberts disappearance. We know Aaron is dead, and I think I can get a witness to tell us where his body is located if Tom will agree not to press charges.”
“I’ll page him, but he usually doesn’t like to be interrupted during lunch. He can’t have the phone turned on in the courtroom, so he may not get your message until they break this afternoon.”
“Can you hand carry the message to him?”
“Not a chance. Like I said, I’m the only one in the office this afternoon.”
“Okay. Put the message on his cellphone and we’ll hope for the best. Thanks for helping.”
Floyd folded the cellphone and looked at Pam with exasperation. “There’s nobody in the county attorney’s office with the authority to offer immunity to Melissa. They may get a message this afternoon.”
“So,” Pam summarized, “if Melissa’s attorney tells her not to talk to us, we’re screwed.”
“When he tells her not to talk to us,” Floyd corrected. “No attorney is going to tell her to talk to us without some sort of immunity from prosecution. We’re so close I hate to walk away without closure.”
Floyd’s cellphone chirped and he fumbled with it before answering on the second ring.
“Floyd, what in hell are you doing in Redwood Falls?” The sheriff’s deep voice asked.
“I take it you got a call from Jenny in the county attorney’s office,” Floyd said. “Anyway, I’m here talking to Melissa Schotten, who used to be Melissa Smith. I had a hunch that she knew more about Aaron Roberts’ disappearance than she let on. I presented what we knew to her and she admitted that Aaron Roberts died in a house on Round Lake. When I asked her what happened to the body she asked to talk to her attorney.”
“Does she know who the killer is?”
“According to what she was told, Ken confronted Aaron at the house on Round Lake. Betsy and Mike Nelson left during the argument and Melissa went over later and found Aaron’s body. She didn’t witness the murder. She assumed Ken was the murderer based on Betsy’s comments and what she saw.”
“Then Melissa could be the murderer.”
“I doubt that. She had no motive. If Ken had been killed, I’d be looking at Melissa as a suspect.”
“But you really have no substantive evidence Ken was the murderer either,” the sheriff said, mulling the information in his mind. “For all we know, Aaron and Ken had a fight, and Ken may have left Aaron alive. Anyone in the county could be a suspect. I might even throw out a guess that Aaron called home and when his father found out where Aaron was holed up, he might’ve gone over and killed him.”