In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni

[Jonetta]

Detective Tracy Crosswhite has a skill, and a soft spot, for tackling unsolved crimes. Having lost her own sister to murder at a young age, Tracy has dedicated her career to bringing justice and closure to the families and friends of victims of crime.

So when Jenny, a former police academy classmate and protégé, asks Tracy to help solve a cold case that involves the suspicious suicide of a Native American high school girl forty years earlier, Tracy agrees. Following up on evidence Jenny’s detective father collected when he was the investigating deputy, Tracy probes one small town’s memory and finds dark, well-concealed secrets hidden within the community’s fabric. Can Tracy uphold the promise she’s made to the dead girl’s family and deliver the truth of what happened to their daughter? Or will she become the next victim?

Settings
Seattle, Washington
Klickitat County, Washington
Stoneridge, Washington
Central Point, Oregon

Prologue
38 Chapters
Epilogue

Character List
(view spoiler)[
Recurring Characters
Tracy Crosswhite: Homicide detective on the Violent Crime Section A Team.
Dan O’Leary: Attorney and Tracy’s childhood friend. They’re now in a relationship.
Kinsington (Kins) Rowe: aka Sparrow. Homicide detective on the Violent Crime Section A Team. He’s Tracy’s partner and married to Shannah.
Vic (Faz) Fazzio: Homicide detective on the Violent Crime Section A Team. He’s married to Vera.
Delmo (Del) Castigliano: Homicide detective on the Violent Crime Section A Team.
Ron Mayweather: Homicide detective on the Violent Crime Section A Team. He’s the “fifth wheel,” responsible for the mundane tasks of investigative work.
Billy Williams: Detective sergeant on the Violent Cime Section A Team.
Andrew Laub: Lieutenant over the Violent Crime Section A Team.
Johnny Nolasco: Chief of detectives and captain of the Violent Crimes Section.
Stephen Martinez: Assistant chief of criminal investigations.
Douglas (Sandy) Clarridge: Police chief.
Jennifer (Jenny) Almond: aka Costco. Sheriff of Klickitat County, succeeding her father. Former police recruit who attended the Academy with Tracy. She was the only other woman in the class. She’s married to Neil and mother of their two children, Sarah and Trey.
Bennett Lee: Seattle Police Department public information officer.
Rick Cerrabone: King County Prosecutor.
Amanda Santos: FBI profiler.
Kelly Rosa: Forensic anthropologist.
Peter Gabriel: Forensic consultant. His specialty is river patterns.
Stuart Funk: Medical examiner.
Michael Melton: DNA analyst at the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.
Kaylee Wright: Senior CSI analyst known as “sign cutter” or “man tracker.”
Sherri Belle: CSI lab technician.
Harrison Scott: Head of Independent Forensic Laboratories (IFL). Former head of the Washington State Crime Labs in Seattle and Vancouver.
Lazar Orlovic: Attendant at the Seattle Police Athletic Association shooting range.
Sarah Crosswhite: Tracy’s sister who went missing 20 years ago.
James Crosswhite: Tracy’s father, a former doctor, deceased.
Abby Crosswhite: Tracy’s mother, deceased.
Ben: Tracy’s ex-husband.
Maria Vanpelt: Seattle television reporter.
Roger: Tracy’s black tabby.
Sherlock: One of Dan’s two dogs, a Rhodesian and mastiff mix.
Rex: One of Dan’s two dogs, a Rhodesian and mastiff mix.

Non Recurring Characters
Theodore (Buzz) Almond: Jenny’s father, former sheriff of Klickitat County who recently died of colon cancer.
Anne Almond: Jenny’s mother and Buzz’s wife.
Jerry Ostertag: Original lead detective assigned to Kimi’s case.
Kimi Kanasket: Native American teen who was found in the Columbia River after she was reported missing. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Earl Kanasket : Kimi’s father, a tribe elder.
Nettie Kanasket:Kimi’s mother, married to Earl.
Élan Kanasket: Kim’s brother.
Tommy Moore: Kimi’s ex-boyfriend, a former boxer and now a mechanic.
Sam Goldman: Former publisher of the Sentinel, the Stoneridge newspaper.
Adele Goldman: Sam’s wife.
Lorraine Topeka: Owner of the Columbia Diner where Kimi worked.
Lionel Devoe: Stoneridge chief of police. Hastey is his brother.
Eric Reynolds: Quarterback on offense and free safety on defense for the 1976 football team. He was one of the Four Ironmen. He’s now president of Reynolds Construction.
Hastey Devoe: Center on offense and nose tackle on defense for the 1976 football team. He was one of the Four Ironmen. He now works for Reynolds Construction.
Darren Gallentine: Linebacker on defense and running back on offense for the 1976 football team. He was one of the Four Ironmen. He was a Boeing engineer before he committed suicide in 1999.
Archibald (Archie) Coe: Cornerback on defense and running back on offense for the 1976 football team. He was one of the Four Ironmen. He now works for a nursery.
Tiffany Gallentine Martin: Darren’s wife and mother of their two children, Rebecca and Rachel. She’s the director of business development at Microsoft.
Ron Reynolds: Legendary Stoneridge coach and Eric’s father.
Cheryl Neal: Teen who Tommy was out with the night she died.
Timothy (Tim) Collins: Murder victim shot by his wife.
Angela Collins: Tim’s wife who shot him, allegedly in self defense. She’s Atticus Berkshire’s daughter.
Connor Collins: Tim and Angela’s 17-year old son.
Atticus Berkshire: Angela’s father, a prominent defense attorney.
Mark Collins: Tim’s older brother.
Anthony Holt: Tim’s attorney.
Emily Rodriguez: Angela Collins’ neighbor and a witness.
Mira Mairs: Judge in the Collins case.
(hide spoiler)]

Spoiler Info
(view spoiler)[
Kimi Kanasket was accidentally run over by Eric Reynolds as he chased her down the path of the turnout in his car. She fell and he lost control of the car, running over her. She was still alive when he and Hastey, Archie and Darren went for help from his father. Ron picked her up and threw her into the river. She was still alive. The guilt from what they had done overshadowed their entire lives. Ron never told Eric that Kimi was still alive.

Angela Collins plotted to dupe and kill her husband. She was willing to let her son take the blame. Tracy figured out she was just as damaged a parent as Ron Reynolds and set it up so that Connor and Atticus could hear her in interview making up the lie about how Connor had killed his father. Connor tearfully confessed the truth, that she had deliberately set up Tim and killed him.

Dan is moving closer to Seattle, 1/2 hour away. He’s keeping the Cedar Grove property.

Kin’s came clean to Tracy about his attraction to Amanda Santos. He’s going to try harder to keep his marriage together. (hide spoiler)]