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I was itching to get the list to Calloway, as well as do some of my own investigating regarding what the former students remembered and might be up to now, but Minnie convinced me to stay for a few more minutes.
“Rogue taxidermy,” she said.
“Okay?”
“That day, I know that whatever that thing was in your father’s studio, it was an abomination, a disrespect of an artform that had only begun to see the light of day. Back then, it was all just something … wrong. It was a misinterpretation, meant to shock.”
“Sounds like it.”
“I didn’t think your father created it back then. Even when I first saw it, I knew it wasn’t him.”
“I assure you, he didn’t. Not because of the ideas behind the art, but because of the blood and gore you saw. He would never have allowed such a thing.”
“Are you sure?”
“One thousand percent.” I paused. “But you don’t know who did?”
“It could be any of the five others on the list.” She bit her bottom lip again. “It’s not unusual out here, but we all came from instability. We were all also artistic.” She hesitated again. “And so you know, Thalia and I did date, later when we were in our early twenties, but it just didn’t work out. She never told me what happened after I left that day. They all kept quiet. Vows and secrets all around. The podcast ends with your father’s disappearance shortly after the abomination was brought to class.” She paused. “I did the podcast to see if I could get answers regarding where Wilmot went or why he left, but no one was talking, including Thalia to me.”
“You were grown-ups when you dated?”
Minnie shook her head. “Yes, but it didn’t matter. None of us were going to talk about it.”
“Until you did the podcast.”
“I didn’t name names.”
“Did you think one of the students hurt my father?”
“I just didn’t know. Anything was possible, and I hated myself for running away.”
I wondered about the light she’d put my father in, but it seemed only fair at this point that I listen to her podcast. I would, and then I’d probably want to discuss more with her.
“Do you know where Thalia works?” I asked.
“No, but last I knew Danielle worked at the butcher shop.”
“That’s a bit on the nose,” I said, thinking about the sculptures.
“I don’t know.”
“The butcher shop. Okay, what about Silas Reynolds, Jeff Ranke, and Johnny Clark?”
“Jeff Ranke is still in town. I have no idea what happened to Silas Reynolds or Johnny Clark. I never saw them or their fathers ever again. I think Silas’s mother died when he was a baby, and Johnny’s just didn’t stick around.”
“Did you try to find them?”
“Yes, but I couldn’t. When I did the podcast series, I talked to Thalia. She made it crystal clear that I still shouldn’t mention names.” Minnie’s eyes widened briefly. “Hazel, she was still concerned for her safety if their deeper secret got out. I swear to you, she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
I didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, but if the abomination was as awful as it seemed, fear for their safety might make sense.
“No social media contact with any of them?”
“No. I have professional pages for my business, and I’ve checked my followers’ list, but none of their names have come up. Even Thalia doesn’t follow me. Of course, lots of people have fake accounts just because they can, so I guess there’s a chance they’re still watching what I’m doing. When the podcast first aired, which was years ago, I received an anonymous email, telling me I was ‘putting my toe in waters that might get them bitten off.’ I forgot all about that until this minute. I suspected that it was one of the students and knowing I wasn’t going to mention their names so it wouldn’t go anywhere anyway. Maybe Calloway could trace the IP address.”
“You still have the email?”
“I’m sure I do. I save everything.”
