By a head, at least.
“Good,” Knight said. “We’re getting somewhere. He have a belly like mine?” he asked, patting it. “Or was he more of a hard body like my partner?”
“Somewhere in between.”
He repeated the words in a mumble, as though committing them to memory. “Distinguishing features?”
“Like what?”
“Big ears? A wart on his nose? Facial hair, scars, tattoos?”
Keep kissing my lightning bolt at your own risk, Doc.
Why? What happens?
It strikes my cock.
She looked away from Knight’s perceptive gaze. “No distinguishing features that I recall.”
“Approaching town, which direction were you coming from?”
“The north, I think. I’m not sure. We took a lot of turns.”
“Huh.”
A short silence ensued then Grange said, “Since we now know for certain which trail you were on Saturday morning, several deputies have been dispatched to see if they can retrace your steps.”
“Why?”
“In the hope of locating this man who took care of you,” Knight said. “To thank him and such.”
She didn’t believe for a moment that was the reason they were trying to retrace her steps. Her heart began to thud. “I don’t think he would wish to be thanked.”
“How come?”
“He impressed me as someone who would shun the limelight. He was…shy.”
“Huh.”
Knight’s repetitive use of that single syllable was most eloquent. It implied he wasn’t believing what he was hearing.
Grange was more direct. “You perceived a character trait like shyness, but you aren’t clear on his height or general body build?”
She divided a look between them. “Why are you so interested in him?”
“No reason in particular,” Knight said. “Just seems strange that after he sheltered you for four days and nights, took such good care of you, that he’d just drop you on the side of the road instead of delivering you into the arms of your husband or turning you over to an officer of the law.”
She scrambled for an answer which, if not probable, wouldn’t stretch plausibility too far. “You referred to the circus at the service station,” she said. “He realized that my reappearance, my reunion with my husband, would result in exactly that kind of scene. Obviously this man values his privacy. He’s reclusive and wishes to remain so. I think everyone should respect that and leave him in peace.”
“So he knew that you had a husband crazy with worry over you.”
She looked at Grange, realizing that she’d trapped herself. She truly was a dreadful liar.
When she didn’t speak, the deputy continued. “Even if the roads were frozen over and too hazardous to drive on, why didn’t he at least call somebody to let them know you were safe?”
“Perhaps his phone was inoperable.”
“He had yours, Dr. Charbonneau. It was working this morning.”