Newquist's widow didn't doubt the coroner's report. But Selma couldn't accept not knowing what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life, and the only way she'd get closure was if she found out what it was that had made him prowl restlessly at night, that had him brooding constantly.

Kinsey should have dumped the case. It was vague and hopeless, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead, she set up shop in Nota Lake, where she found that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood. Very likely, her own.