Thomas’s brow knitted further, and he looked from Moore to Alison as if they had the answer he needed to supply.
"Both of them?"Thomas asked."They both sent you?"
"They’re both dead," Moore said.
Alison studied Thomas completely.His brows pushed further down at the news, almost straining, then there was a faint twitch at the side of his mouth—he was happy to hear the news—then his eyes widened as the realization set in.
"Why did you come here?"Thomas asked.
"Did you kill them, Thomas?"Moore asked.
"What?"Thomas spluttered.
"Did you kill them as revenge for your sister?"Moore pushed.
"No!"Thomas blurted."I didn't kill anyone!"
"Where were you last night, Thomas?"Moore asked.
"I was at work," he replied quickly."I worked all night."
"You weren’t at home at any part of the night?"Moore asked.
"I got home around six this morning," he replied."I helped get the kids ready for school, and I’ve been cleaning."
"Not sleeping?"Alison asked.
Thomas fidgeted with his hands as he spoke."I guess I was running on adrenaline."
"Adrenaline?"Moore pushed."Adrenaline from what?"
"Just from work," Thomas said, almost tripping over his words."I’m on my feet all night, and we work hard and fast, and it takes me time to calm down from that.I usually nap in the afternoon.I don't need much sleep anyway."
"No?"Alison asked.
"Talk to my boss," Thomas said."Talk to my work colleagues.I was there at ten last night, and I left at five this morning.I’ll be in the system, and there were at least four people who saw me there."
"Any breaks?"Moore asked.
"A couple of smoke breaks and one for food, but I didn’t go far.There’s a twenty-four-hour place not far from the factory, and I ate there.I was out of the building for maybe forty minutes.Check—what can you check?My bank account or something.You’ll see a transaction at the burger place.I didn't kill anyone.I haven’t even thought about it.Even when I was at my lowest point right after she was killed, I never thought of that.She wouldn’t want me to do anything like that.That’s not justice, but change is."
His last words felt rehearsed as if he’d use them at protests or during an interview, but something rang true about them.
"Okay, we’ll look into your alibis," Moore said."Until then, I don't have to tell you that you shouldn't go anywhere, right?"
"I work the next three nights again," Thomas said."I’ll either be there or here.I won't go anywhere."
"And I’d like to take some photos of the information that you have here," Moore added.
"Of course," Thomas said."Whatever you need.I didn't kill them, I swear."
***
"What do you have?"Alison asked Moore when she placed the phone down.
"His company confirms what Thomas Vaughan told us," she replied."His boss reports that Thomas arrived for work last night as scheduled and worked his full shift.He has logs of him clocking in and out, and the work allocated was completed.The boss wasn’t on the floor the entire time, but he does have a worker there right now who’s pulling a double, and can confirm that Thomas worked last night.They were side by side almost the entire night.Except for when he left to get some food."
Moore looked at Alison hopefully.
