"Never seen her before?”
"Not that I recall. There are a lot of pretty girls on the island. Maybe I bumped into her here or there.”
I tabbed through the images on my phone and showed him a picture of Harper that I had taken at the crime scene. This one was a little more gruesome. "What about her?"
Earl’s face tightened. "Nope. Never seen her before either.”
"Look real close. Are you sure about that?”
"Positive."
"You mind if we take a look around your apartment?”
35
“Now, why would you want to search my place?” Earl asked.
“I’ve never been inside these apartments, and I just wanted to see the layout. They look nice.”
“Call the main office and schedule a tour. I’m sure they’ll be most accommodating.”
I smiled. "But I want to see inside this unit."
"You’ll have to get a warrant. Just what is it you think I've done?”
"I think you know damn good and well what you've done. Now you’re back on the street, you're doing it again. Just like you were 15 years ago. Right?”
Earl’s nervous eyes darted between the two of us. "I think you've made some kind of mistake.”
"No, I think I'm pretty spot on,” I said.
Earl stepped back and closed the door.
I shared a look with Denise. We plunged down the steps and strolled the walkway back to the parking lot.
"That guy gives me the creeps," Denise said. "Did you see the way he looked at me?”
"I told you he was a scumbag."
"It was like he was looking right through me.”
We hopped into her SUV and returned to the station. We found the sheriff, and I gave him my theory. “Jenna Keating confirmed Earl as her attacker.”
The sheriff gave me a doubtful look. “She also confirmed Ray Corbin. That was 15 years ago. Not enough for a warrant.”
"Agreed. But we need to put a unit on his apartment. Follow him around. See where he goes. It's only a matter of time before he strikes again.”
"I don't have the manpower to babysit that guy 24/7. Unless you want to do it.”
"Just put a squad car on his apartment for the next 24 hours while I run down a few more leads.”
After a moment, the sheriff agreed.
Denise and I filled out a report, then we headed over to Ray's wife's house. She lied to me before. That became clear after I talked to Chris.
We drove to her house and knocked on the door.
Dana answered a moment later, and I smiled and introduced Denise.
