Noah hesitated for a moment. "Evan.”
"Why did you leave it at Evan's house?”
He shrugged. "I don't know. I forgot it. We had been playing video games. When I left, I didn’t have my helmet. I realized that when I got to my bike, but I didn't want to go back to the apartment. His girlfriend came over, and I knew they’d be, you know…”
"I need Evan’s number.”
He frowned, but gave it to me. Noah told me where Evan lived, and we set out to pay Evan a visit while Erickson and Faulkner kept an eye on Noah. I didn't want the punk calling Evan and giving him a heads-up.
6
Evan lived a few blocks away in the Seabreeze Terrace Apartments. A little nicer than Noah’s, but not by much.
I banged on the door, and Evan answered a moment later. I flashed my badge and made introductions. "We just talked to Noah. He said he left his motorcycle helmet over here the other day.”
Evan’s confused eyes flicked between us. "Yeah,” he said, uncertain. "Is that illegal now?”
I laughed. "No. Can you show it to us?”
Evan hesitated a moment. "Noah’s not in any trouble, is he?”
I smiled. “No. We’re just trying to rule him out as a suspect.”
"Suspect in what?”
I hesitated before answering. "The death of Abigail Jordan.”
His jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. "She's dead?”
I nodded.
"How?”
I gave him limited details.
After a moment, he said, "Let me grab the helmet for you."
He spun around and marched down the foyer to the living room. The sound of the TV filtered through the apartment.
His girlfriend sat on the couch watching TV. "Who is it?"
"The cops," he hissed.
Evan disappeared and returned a few moments later with the helmet.
I shared a look with Jack.
It was a black helmet with a dark-tinted visor. I pulled up the image on my cell phone and compared the two.
This one looked similar, but there was a different logo on the front, just above the visor. This helmet was clearly not the same as the one in the video.
A disappointed frown tugged my face. "This is Noah’s only helmet?”
Evan shrugged. "As far as I know.”
I took a photo of the helmet and collected it as evidence, just in case. I thanked him for his time, then we marched back to the van.
Jack muttered, "If Noah didn't strangle his girlfriend, who did?”
