“Mr. Johnson, we need to know why you killed Ashlynn Volk so long ago,” Pete said.
Eddy shook his head. “I didn’t kill that pretty lady.” He clasped gnarled hands together in his lap, his eyes widening as he looked around the room. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice to a raspy whisper. “Her own kind killed ‘er.”
What exactly did Johnson know about the wolves? “We know you were in the vicinity the night Ashlynn died,” Mia said. “Did you see who killed her?”
“No.” Eddy’s gaze wandered over Mia’s face. “You look a little like her, you know. So sad she had to die.” Tears filled his eyes. “But it wasn’t me.”
“Mr. Johnson, how did you get the silver handcuffs you used on Ashlynn?” Pete asked.
Eddy rubbed his whiskers. “Silver is pretty. Shiny.”
“Yes, it’s very pretty.” Mia softened her voice. “Did you use silver that night?”
“No. I never had no silver.” He shook his head sadly. “If I had silver, I’d have rented a room and not lived outside. So silly to use silver on a lady body.”
The breath caught in Mia’s throat. “Did you see the silver on the lady?”
Eddy shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Did you put the silver on her?” Pete asked.
Eddy threw out his hands. “No. I don’t leave silver.”
“Who left the silver on the lady?” Mia asked.
“One of the monsters.” Eddy grabbed Mia’s hands.
Pete leaned forward, and Mia shook her head. He relaxed but kept his hand on his gun.
Eddy’s bony fingers pressed into her flesh. “Get out now. You don’t know. You don’t know about the beasts within the beasts. They’ll take you…and they’ll kill you. Just like that pretty Ashlynn.”
Icy fingers tapped down Mia’s spine. “What about the other two women? The ones from Seattle.”
He frowned, his eyes clouding. “I didn’t see the other women. Heard about them. The doctors have talked to me about them. I never saw them.” His exhale was deep. “Was there silver on them?”
“Yes,” Mia said.
He shook his head, and his white hair brushed his shoulders. “So sad. Silver is too expensive, too pretty to put on whores.”
Mia swallowed. “Whores?”
“Yeah. The shrinks told me about the women from the city. Hookers.” He shrugged. “It’s too bad about the silver.”
Mia cut a look at Pete, who grimaced. “Was Ashlynn Volk a whore, Eddy?” She stayed close to him.
He focused on her, his gaze wandering from her jaw up to her hair and back. “Aren’t they all?”
All right. Maybe Eddy did have some issues with women. “Do women deserve to die like that? Staked to the ground?” she asked.
“Not with the good silver.” He cackled. “I’m done. You’re boring.”
Pete stood. “We’re not getting anything from him. He’s a nutjob.”
Eddy turned back toward the window. “I didn’t used to be. Happened here.” He jerked his head toward the storm gathering outside. “What I’ve seen outside this window—so much howling.”
Pete snorted and headed toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Eddy cut a sly glance Mia’s way. “I wasn’t alone out there that night, you know.”
