But was she a killer?
May crossed the room and stood in front of the woman.
She seemed to have just finished with her client and was busy disinfecting her equipment. She turned quickly as May approached, looking startled and defensive.
May noticed how her eyes darted to the door, as if she were thinking of fleeing.
"Deputies Moore and Lovell," May introduced them.
"What's this about?" Esther said, in a high-pitched, nervous voice.
One of the other tattoo artists put down his tattoo pen and strode over.
"We're private property here, and we're a service industry. May I ask what you're doing here?" His tone implied that May was out to cause trouble.
"I just want to ask Esther some questions," May said. "We're not here to accuse anyone of anything."
Esther looked absolutely horrified. "What is this about?" she asked. "Who told you to come here? Is this because I pepper sprayed some guy in self-defense?"
She was holding the tattoo pen. There was something about the way she was holding it that struck alarm bells in May’s mind. Why?
No time to think about that now. She had to keep this conversation going and reassure Esther.
"It’s nothing to do with that. You knew Molly Blair when you were in school?" May asked.
To her surprise, Esther frowned angrily. "Are you asking me to spill dirt on Molly? I refuse to do that. We were good friends at school, but that was years ago. I don't keep in touch with any of my old school connections. I hated school, and I hated most of them."
She stared at them, with her green eyes flashing. "So, if you've come here to ask me about Molly, I want to tell you that I don't want to talk to you. My lawyer will handle this."
She looked toward the tattoo artist. "Don't you think we should call my lawyer?" She put down the tattoo pen and picked up her cellphone. Again, May felt like there was something she needed to notice about this but wasn’t.
"I think we should go and talk about this elsewhere," Owen said, stepping forward and giving Molly a calm smile. "You don't seem to have a client right now. So, can we buy you a coffee? We need information. You're not in trouble."
Yet, May thought.
But Owen's intervention had worked. The other tattoo artist seemed to relax and moved away, heading back to his client.
And, after a moment's consideration, to her shock, Esther nodded.
"Ten minutes," she said. "That's all I have. But I'll talk to you downstairs."
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
As May hurried downstairs to the coffee shop, she realized, with a thud of her stomach, what she’d noticed.
Esther was left-handed. She had held the tattoo pen and the phone in her left hand. This killer was right-handed.
That didn’t mean it was impossible that she could have committed the crimes, but it meant it was unlikely that she had. However, even if she wasn’t the criminal, she might know something. At least it was worth asking, since right now they didn't have anything else to pursue.
They headed to the coffee shop and snagged a table right at the back.
Owen went to order coffees. After all, Esther needed some reward for having come with them so willingly. Especially seeing she now really did look like she was regretting her decision.
“Esther, thank you for agreeing to speak to us. It’s in connection with the recent multiple murders.”
"I suppose I'm a suspect, am I? I know Molly’s husband was killed. I have no idea about any other murders, but I guess you must think I was involved. Is that why you’re here? Because I knew her, and you think I did it?" Esther leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. Her eyes glittered angrily.
"Actually, no. You are a person of interest, but not a suspect. Not at this time."
