Emily couldn’t answer. Her entire focus was needed to try to make her body move. To reach for the door. She had to get out of the car. It was on fire.
51
5:00 p.m.
The interview room was becoming an all too familiar place for Clint’s comfort. As usual, he’d been brought here and left alone to sweat the possibilities. This time for more than an hour. If that was what Caruthers wanted, he would be damned disappointed. The only thing on Clint’s mind was the fact that there had been another murder.
Ray Hale was dead.
Anguish tore through Clint. No matter what Ray had done in the past, he was the only person in this whole damned town who had tried to help Clint. Not once had he shown his appreciation.
Clint grabbed back control. He couldn’t let his emotions run away with him like this. He was sorry as hell that Ray was dead, but the best thing he could do for the man was find his killer. He couldn’t do that in here.
Knowing that Caruthers would be watching him from the other side of the mirror on the wall, Clint sat right where they’d left him. No fidgeting, no looking around, absolute stillness. His goal was to get out of here, get to Emily, and keep her safe while finding some answers. Every time he turned around, there were more questions and no answers.
The door opened. Mike Caruthers and Lee Brady entered the room. Brady took a seat at the table. Caruthers didn’t appear inclined to sit.
“Clint,” Brady began, “I strongly advise you to think carefully before you answer a question that may incriminate you.”
Clint shook his head. “I don’t have anything to hide.” He shifted his gaze to the deputy chief. “Say what’s on your mind, Caruthers.”
“Have you ever been to Ray’s hunting cabin?”
“No. He offered it to me as a temporary place to stay after my house burned, but I declined.”
“Where were you between noon and two p.m. today?”
That was easy. “At work until one. You can check with Marvin Cook and the rest of the employees at the repair shop. I left at one and drove straight to the Valley Inn. I was with Emily Wallace after that until you picked me up. The manager at the inn saw me arrive shortly after one, and Emily and I left around two to go to Violet Turner’s house.” Clint wasn’t sure whether it was disappointment or relief he saw in the deputy’s eyes. Maybe a mixture of both.
“Can you identify these?” He placed a plastic evidence bag on the table, the contents a handful of ripped photos.
Clint studied the fragments, then said, “Torn photographs. I’d have to piece them together somewhat to be certain, but they look like some of the ones from my house. You saw the place after it was vandalized.” He didn’t have to remind Caruthers, but for Brady’s sake he did. The memory of all his mother’s damaged things squeezed his heart.
“Is there any reason Ray would have these in his possession?”
“As a favor to me, Ray was going to take some of the pieces to a guy he thought could restore them. But I can’t say whether these are any of the ones he took, not without touching them, and maybe not even then.”
“Once I’ve confirmed your alibi, you’ll be free to go, but stay close to home or work. I may need to question you again. And—” Caruthers glanced at Brady before proceeding, and he nodded. “We’re going to need to do DNA testing on any person of interest related to Keith’s case.”
“If you don’t offer the sample voluntarily,” Brady explained, “they’ll get a court order. I’ve been made aware of the names on the list. There are several others, Clint, so don’t feel singled out.”
“No problem.”
Caruthers turned his back and headed for the door.
Clint almost didn’t ask, but he needed to know. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Caruthers hesitated but didn’t look back. “We’re not releasing any of the details yet. When we do, you’ll see it on the news or in the paper like everyone else.”
Clint’s alibi was rock solid. No way they could nail this on him. Caruthers just didn’t like him or trust him because of the past. But then, Clint had known it would be this way. There were simply some things a man couldn’t live down.
Innocence would never be enough.
6:15 p.m.
Clint knocked first, but when there was no answer, he used the key Emily had given him and entered the room. It felt a little different, being trusted with her key. But it was only a rented room, nothing to get excited about.
“Emily?”
