Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(48)

“No. I think Draymont and the judge were killed by two different people, at two slightly different times.”

White nearly came out of her seat. “What!”

He explained to her about the ME’s confirming that the blood on the wall and carpet was Draymont’s, not Cummins’s.

“She comes downstairs, maybe after hearing the shots, and then she goes back upstairs. Why not call the cops from downstairs?” Decker wondered.

“But it could still be the person who killed Draymont who then went after her and prevented her from sounding the alarm.”

Decker shook his head. “They were two totally different crimes. If you have a gun and want to silence a witness, you don’t pull out a knife and kill her slowly while she screams her head off and fights for her life. And for her to get Draymont’s blood on her means she had to touch him. As I said before, she probably heard the shots, went into the study, saw him lying there, touched the wound, maybe tried to perform CPR. Whoever shot Draymont wouldn’t have stayed around to watch that. And if they had meant to kill her, they would have gone to find her, not waited for her to come downstairs. For all they knew she would call the cops from her room.”

“That all makes sense. But the cut-up blindfold on her? And the legal phrase on the paper?”

“Could be something very personal to her, which would make sense if there were two separate killers. And but for the money in Draymont’s throat and the very different criminal elements, I might think he was killed in protecting the judge and then they went and finished her off. But that’s not how this played out. At least I don’t think it did.”

“And why not wait and fill in Andrews on this, too?” asked White.

“Because Roe knew about the Slovakian money in Draymont’s throat. She said it came from her ‘sources.’ I think her source was Andrews.”

“He does seem more deferential with her than I would like, but you can’t know for sure he told her.”

“We will.”

“How?”

“I’m going to ask him.”

“And if Andrews did tell her?”

He shot her a look. “Then you can turn into Muhammad Ali and use your double black belt to kick his ass.”





Chapter 33



T?HEY WERE NEARING THEIR HOTEL when Decker’s phone rang. It was Barry Davidson. He sounded frantic.

“I can’t find my son. Tyler didn’t come home from school today. I’ve tried his phone and left messages. None of his friends know where he is.”

“Okay, just calm down. We’ll be right over.”

They cleared the gate and rode the elevator up. Davidson was waiting for them at his front door.

They could both smell the liquor on his breath as he hurried them inside.

“When was the last time you saw or spoke to him?” asked White.

“This morning, around eight. He was leaving for school.”

“I didn’t think he’d be going back to school so soon,” noted Decker.

“He…he said he wanted to, to get his mind off things.”

“You said you talked to his friends?” said White.

“Yes, one of them told me that Tyler had left school early. And Tyler hasn’t answered his phone or returned my texts. He’s usually very good at doing so.”

“He might not have his phone with him,” said Decker.

“He always has his phone,” countered Davidson.

“The cops won’t do anything yet, unless we have information that he might be in danger, or distress,” said White.

Davidson slumped into a chair and reached out for what looked to be a glass of whiskey.

“And getting drunk won’t help matters,” pointed out Decker. “In case Tyler needs you.”

Davidson withdrew his hand and looked guiltily at them. “I’m…I’m afraid he might…I don’t know. Hurt himself.”

“Did he ever talk about doing something like that?” asked White, a note of urgency in her voice.

“No, but he never lost his mother before,” retorted Davidson.

“Does he have any usual haunts, places he likes to go, to think, or be alone?”

“Nothing particular, no.”

“Any girlfriends?” asked White.

“He did, but they broke up a month ago. I called her, but she hasn’t heard from Tyler.”

“What’s his normal routine?” asked Decker.

“He gets up around six and goes for a run, usually on the beach with some other players. Then he works out at the gym in the building here. I had to pay for extra weights, by the way,” he added proudly. “They didn’t have enough for him. Then he goes to school. Then he works out some more there. Then he comes home. He’s usually here by six or so.”

“Okay, but it’s only seven thirty now,” said White.

“But I’ve been calling him since noon. I wanted to see how he was doing and if he wanted to help me…help me pick out some music for his mother’s funeral service.”

“When did his friend say he left school?” asked Decker.

“Around two. But he didn’t say where he was going.”

“And they just let him leave?” said White.