MARLOW FIN: Why does anyone go to their family’s lake cabin that time of year?
JODI LEE: Police say that you came uninvited. That you showed up to the surprise of everyone else there.
MARLOW FIN: I arrived at the cabin before anyone else did. It has been in our family for years. I spent summers there as a child. I didn’t think anyone would think twice if I showed up Labor Day weekend.
JODI LEE: The results of the DNA analysis on the blood came back rather quickly. I believe it was announced a week later. Do you dispute DNA blood analysis?
MARLOW FIN: I don’t deny the science.
JODI LEE: The results came back with 99.9 percent certainty. The blood was that of your sister, Isla.
MARLOW FIN: Yes, it was her blood.
JODI LEE: Here’s the question, then. Here is what everyone wants to ask you. What everyone has been thinking.
Marlow, did you kill your sister, Isla?
CHAPTER 23
ISLA
1998
We returned from our time at the cabin to one of the hottest Augusts in Minnesota history. Temperatures hit well over ninety for eleven days straight.
The neighborhood never went a day without an HVAC truck in someone’s driveway. Air conditioners busted left and right like kernels of microwave popcorn. It was our turn on a Friday morning. We woke up to thick air and a stale stillness. It was only seven in the morning and already it felt like high noon.
“Omma, you should go to your friend Mrs. Hwang’s. She has a condo in Minneapolis, right? It’s too dangerous for you to stay here in this heat. Stella can drive you on her way in to work.”
Moni huffed. “I fine right here. I’m not bother Mrs. Hwang. She has enough trouble, her son is in town. I wait for air conditioning fix.”
“The HVAC guy can’t come until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.”
Mom finished her coffee and buttoned the top of her blouse. “Really, Moni. It’s not safe. I can take you on my way in, no problem.”
“And where kids go?”
“With me,” said Dad. “I’m off today. We’re going to spend as much time as we can at the pool. Right, girls?”
“Can we ask Sawyer to come?” I asked.
“That would be okay. As long as Ada knows.”
Marlow said nothing as she dipped her spoon into her cereal. She poured milk slowly back into her bowl and closely watched each drop.
After more coaxing, Moni went with Mom and the rest of us went to the pool. It was already crowded when we got there. Heads bobbed up and down like a game of Whac-A-Mole. Every inch of the scattered chaise longues was covered in bunched-up towels, beach bags, flip-flops, and snacks. My foot crunched over an abandoned package of Cheetos as we searched for the unicorn of an empty chair.
Sawyer located an abandoned one in the corner behind the lifeguard station. He sat on it, as if claiming his discovery.
“Nice work, bud,” Dad said, unloading the bag and towels onto the cheap blue-and-white plastic strips of the chaise.
Sawyer suppressed a large smile, his mouth puckering and releasing, almost embarrassed at his reaction to pleasing Dad. “It’s no problem.”
I impatiently rubbed sunscreen over my face and arms at Dad’s insistent orders. The sweat that had already formed on my skin repelled some of the white cream in messy, watery swirls.
The pool was too crowded to jump into. I placed my hand on the silver metal railing and felt immediate relief from my toes hitting the first step under the frigid chlorinated water. Kids screamed and splashed as teen lifeguards in uniform red suits blew whistles and shouted at them with annoyance and boredom.
A lifeguard with white-blond hair wearing blue Oakleys seemed to look straight at me as I entered. Yet he moved on and continued scanning the pool like a radar tower. He had months of a summer tan layered on his body. I suddenly felt weird in my tie-dye one-piece, as if I were underdressed, my midsection a solid block.
Sawyer poked me from behind. “What are you waiting for?” He looked at me and then up at the lifeguard, who stared at us both.
We splashed in together. I surfaced and wiped at my nose. Dad entered the pool with Marlow on the opposite end. I waved at him, and he nodded.
A little girl with hot-pink floaties frantically paddled next to me, elbowing me in the ribs. There was hardly any room to swim. We were a bucket of ping-pong balls dumped into an air duct, darting all over each other. But it was hard to care, as cold and alleviating as the water was.
Marlow came to life in the water. She was a different girl from the one at breakfast, splashing at Dad and giggling.
“Daddy, throw me off your shoulders!” Her voice was babyish again.
“What’s that, sweetie?” He held a finger up to his ear.
There was so much shrieking and laughter, it was hard to hear anything. I tried floating on my back, but bumped into an elderly woman who held a chubby toddler in her arms.
“You know . . . like a rocket!” Marlow shouted, gesturing up with her hands.
He nodded and went under the water, holding his hands for her by his collarbones. She balanced on top, and he shot her up high. It was a small miracle she didn’t land on anyone.
Dad came up, shaking his head. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea, Marlow. It’s really crowded.”
