“If I say yes, will you let this go? Will you go back to quietly gathering incriminating evidence, as directed by the prosecuting attorney?”
Jericho stared at her. “Areyou saying yes? You’ve been a cop for longer than I have. Maybe fewer murders, but you know how to read people. You know Mosely. If you say you honestly think Will did this? I’ll— I don’t know. That would go a long way toward shutting me up, yeah.”
She gave him a look, her face neutral before it changed to a grimace and let out a dramatic groan. “Keep digging. Be as discrete as you can, because the prosecutor is going to be pissed if she hears we’re still hunting for other suspects after she’s charged Will with the crime. But—” She stopped, obviously choosing her next words carefully. “I don’t know if I truly believe he’s innocent or I justwantto believe he’s innocent. But in either case, we need to be sure. Have you got someone in mind for the alternative suspect?”
Jericho grimaced. “Not really. I mean, not anyone I have any evidence on, whatsoever.”
“But . . .” she prompted.
“There’s something not right about Keith Wooderson, the guy who says Will was menacing his daughters? He claimed the girls had to watch Will come out from the forest for closure, but they barely seemed interested at all. Buthewas fascinated. Excited. And I checked the visitor book for Will. Both Applebys have been to see him, but other than that? One guy. Wooderson. And it’s not like the bastard was acting out of compassion, not based on the way he was talking about Will. I know it’s a long shot—he’s almost certainly another suburban dad hungry for some action in his life, but I want to do a bit more digging. It’s instinct, that’s all.”
Kayla didn’t seem impressed, but that was okay. He wouldn’t be impressed, either, if someone came to him with such a vague idea. He just needed to poke around a little. If he found something on Wooderson, that would be great. If he didn’t, he’d keep poking. It was his job to find therightperson to convict, not the easy one.
“Instinct.” Kayla’s gaze was assessing, and Jericho straightened, trying to look responsible and wise instead of lost and confused. “Tempered with experience. That’s why I tagged you to head up the investigation. So I’d better not second-guess myself now. It’s still your show, Jay. Don’t let me down. Don’t let Lorraine down.”
He nodded and left her office. He wouldn’t let them down and wouldn’t letWilldown either. He wouldn’t let the citizens of Mosely down. If Will killed Lorraine, he needed to be dealt with; but if he didn’t kill her, that meant somebody else did. Somebody currently walking around free, able to kill again.
