Page 104 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“Six months.”

“When do you expect the owner to be around?”

“He comes in later. Afternoon usually. Three-ish.”

JP gave a small smile. “I’ll be back.”

~~~

When JP returned, a different man stood behind the counter. He was older, in his late-fifties thick around the middle, reading glasses low on his nose.

JP stepped up. “Are you the owner?”

“That’s me.”

JP pulled out his credentials and introduced himself. “I’m looking into something from eight or nine years back. I was hoping you could help. Did you own the place then?”

The man looked at him a moment, then nodded. “I did. What kind of something?”

JP slid a photo of Victor Hayes across the counter.

The owner barely glanced at it, and his expression shifted to recognition.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know him. Anyone who lived in this neighborhood knew who that was. He’s the guy who went to prison for abducting that little girl. I saw it on the news. I didn’t peg him for that kind of thing, but you just don’t know people.”

“What can you tell me about him?”

“He used to come in.” The owner tapped the edge of the photo. “He was a regular. Not every day, but often enough. He bought beer, mostly, but sometimes whiskey.”

“Was he in the day the girl went missing?”

The owner huffed. “He did come in that afternoon, around the same time it happened.”

“Did anyone ask you about him back then?”

The owner frowned. “You mean the police? No.”

“No one?”

“No,” the man said again, more certain. “Nobody asked me anything.”

“What can you tell me about that day?”

The owner scratched his chin, thinking. “He came in pretty lit.”

JP’s focus sharpened. “Drunk?”

“Yeah. He shouldn’t have been driving.” The owner shook his head again, like it still bothered him. “He was slurring a bit. He took longer at the register than usual, and he bought whiskey, not beer.”

“Was he alone?”

The owner hesitated. “I didn’t see anyone with him.”

“Did you look?” JP asked, not pushing, just narrowing.

“After he walked out, I watched him. Not because I thought anything was wrong. Just you know. You see someone that drunk, you don’t want them getting behind the wheel. I really hoped to see that he was walking.”

“What did you see?”