Chapter 4
The Sheriff's Game
Sheriff Brody Hayes offers Corbin official assistance, but his help feels more like a subtle obstruction. Corbin notices inconsistencies in Hayes's accounts and a possessiveness over the investigation that raises his suspicions. The sheriff seems to be managing the narrative.
The air in Sheriff Brody Hayes’s office was thick with the scent of stale coffee and something vaguely metallic, like old pennies. Detective Miles Corbin sat across the scarred oak desk, the weight of the town pressing down on him with each tick of the wall clock. Hayes, a man whose uniform seemed molded to his solid frame, gestured with a broad hand towards a scattering of case files.
“Anything new, Sheriff?” Corbin’s voice was a low hum, carefully neutral. He’d learned long ago that emotional displays rarely served him well in these isolated pockets of unease.
Hayes leaned back, his chair groaning in protest. “Not much, Detective. Folks are jumpy, you know how it is. Small town. A few missing people, and suddenly everyone’s seeing shadows in the woods.” He offered a disarming smile, the kind that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We’ve got patrols out, keeping an eye on the roads, the usual.”
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