“Yeah. My sister was Rene Connors. She was murdered in Lake George when we were on our family vacation and her body was left in some bushes.”
“That poor girl,” Scott said, shaking his head. “Horrible. Just horrible. When they moved her, her head almost fell off. If it weren’t attached by the skin it would have. Still gives me nightmares.”
Like the one he was having listening to this.
“What happened with her case? How come you couldn’t catch the person?”
“We were never meant to,” Scott said. “Had to close it fast. Couldn’t piss off some people in town. There was too much riding on it.”
“Why?”
Scott looked around as if he were waiting to be caught. “They are always watching and listening.” The words were barely a whisper.
“Who is?” he asked. “There isn’t anyone here, but you and I.”
Scott laughed. “Not true. That’s how I got to live here now. And that Abdell guy. He knows what it’s like. He had to keep quiet too. It worked for a while, then he was just dead.”
He’d come this far. He knew nothing said could be proven. Scott was nothing more than a rambling old man who barely knew his name, but he’d get what he could because enough of itwasmaking sense.
“Did you work for the McGregors?”
“Everyone does,” Scott said. “Back then, you did or you were on the outs. My poor wife. She hated being around Daniel. Said he gave her the shakes. I told her, he was harmless.”
He snorted. “Why didn’t she like him?”
Scott laughed. “My Missy. She was beautiful. She comes to see me often. She should be here soon.”
Rory was told Scott’s wife had died five years ago.
He couldn’t lose the man now. “I’ll make sure I’m gone before she gets here. Why didn’t she like Daniel?”
Scott smiled. “Missy sure could wear a pair of heels. I hope she has them on later. Daniel, he used to comment on them. I knew I had the prettiest woman around on my arm.”
“So Daniel had an eye for your wife?”
Scott frowned. “He’d never touch my wife. If he did he wouldn’t get what he wanted from me. But other women, they didn’t say no. There were always rumors about him with girls at work.”
“What did he want from you?” he asked. His phone was recording this now. No way he could bring his laptop out and start typing.
“To keep his kid out of trouble. That boy, he had an eye for trouble and didn’t care who he pissed off. Hope he calmed down some.”
“Kane?” he asked. “Is that who you’re talking about?”
“Yeah. Kane. The devil’s kid. That’s what I thought of him. Named well. Kid could do what he wanted and get away with murder.”
His heart was ricocheting in his chest. There was no way Scott would admit this and if he did, it wouldn’t be admissible in court. Rory didn’t want it to skew his opinion, but right now everything was pointing to one of them.
If they didn’t do it themselves, then they had someone else do it.
“Do you think Kane murdered Rene?” he asked.
Scott shrugged. “Anyone can do anything if they are backed into a corner. But Daniel, it was all business for him. Don’t mess up his deals and have people in a panic, he’d tell me. Get that arrest so it could be behind everyone. I asked him how to do that, and he didn’t care. Suggested I don’t turn the cameras on when talking to people. Lose a report here or there. There were pictures I was supposed to look at and I did. Just said they meant nothing. Pretty pictures and drawings too. I told him if I was fired he’d lose his source, but he said he’d take care of it. Guess he did because no one ever realized half my work never got documented. I still feel like shit over that.”
He was going to vomit. If he let on how he was really feeling he wouldn’t get more. “Do you think Daniel was covering for Kane?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Old man Abdell’s death always seemed suspicious to me, but what do I know? He had to keep quiet. Bought just like everyone else.”
Twice now the name was brought up.
