The attorney said the process was legally defensible but ethically irregular. He'd kept the attorney's letter. Burch had her 11 years of incident reports. Dot had Gerald's box. Ray had the photograph.
And Ghost, who had additional context for what the photograph separate, each piece was a grievance together. It was a pattern. Pattern is not proof. Rey said, "A lawyer will tell you that. Yes, Fay said.
But pattern is what makes an investigator look and what an investigation finds. That can be proof. What we need, Hector Webb said, is someone in a position to investigate who isn't connected to Harrove. Everyone looked at Rey. He knew what they were thinking.
The sheriff, Norah Dempsey, had a reputation for being independent, but there was a difference between reputation and proven fact. And approaching law enforcement with a collection of personal grievances and one old photograph required more than reputation. Let me handle the sheriff, Ray said. I'll feel it out. Dot nodded.
And the newspaper piece. Calvin Puit asked. Ignore it, Ray said. Don't respond to it. Don't give it energy.
People in this town know you. He looked around the table. They've known you for years. An unsigned article doesn't undo 40 years of a pharmacy. It doesn't undo 30 years of a classroom.
It doesn't undo a woman who's made their breakfast every morning for 31 years. Dot almost smiled at that. Counts on reactions. Ray continued. He publishes something like that and waits to see how people respond.
Defensiveness looks like guilt. Anger looks like confirmation. The answer is to just keep going. The group was quiet for a moment. That's hard.
Fa Drummond said yes. Ray said it is. He didn't dress it up. They appreciated that. He left the diner at 9:15.
The night was cool. The main street was empty. The flags between the street lamps moved slightly in a light breeze. Stood outside for a moment. He thought about Linda.
He thought about the early years when she'd found out the extent of his history and had taken 3 days to decide what to do with that information and then had come back and said, "I'm not going to pretend I'm not afraid of parts of you, but I'm also not going to pretend I haven't seen what else you are. " She was the only person in his life who had ever held both things about him at the same time without one canceling the other. He thought, "I'm trying to be the second part, the part she saw. " He went home. Maya was at the kitchen table with homework and the radio on low. She looked up when he came in. How was your evening?