Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(49)

“He only had a study hall left.”

“Did he mention to you this morning about leaving school early, or going somewhere?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Did he take his car today?” asked White.

“Yes.”

“Give us the address of his school,” said Decker.

Davidson wrote it down and handed it to him.

“While we’re here, can you answer a few questions about your ex-wife?” said Decker.

“What?” said Davidson irritably.

“Was your wife seeing anyone, I mean, romantically?” asked Decker.

Davidson seemed to shrivel in the face of this question. “I don’t know. I…I always hoped that we might reconcile, you know?”

Decker glanced at White. “No, we didn’t know. Care to explain?”

“We had problems. Julia seemed to think they were insurmountable.”

“And you didn’t?” said White.

“I’m probably a hopeless optimist,” Davidson said with a grim smile.

“But your optimism didn’t work. Did that bother you?” asked Decker.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” barked Davidson.

“You wanted to get back together with your ex. She didn’t. Now she’s dead.”

“I didn’t kill her. I was here. Tyler confirmed that. And I had Zoom meetings.”

“Before COVID, I thought ‘Zoom’ was just a verb,” said Decker. “I wish it still was just a verb.”

“Why aren’t you out there looking for my son? Find him, goddammit!”

“You’re not planning any trips, are you?” asked Decker.

“Why?”

“Don’t.”





Chapter 34



YOU PULLED HIS CHAIN PRETTY hard in there,” said White as they climbed into the car and set off. “Why was that?”

“I usually pull things to see if they snap.”

“And Davidson? You really think he’s good for his wife’s murder?”

“He’s got a motive, jealousy, if he knew about his ex and Draymont, but not the opportunity. But that becomes meaningless if he hired someone to do it for him.”

“If a hit man did go to her house, there should be some record of a car going through the gate.”

“There are certainly ways around that with all the holes in that wall.”

“I suppose. But you think two different people killed Draymont and Cummins. If Davidson was still in love with her, he would have had motive to hire someone to kill lover boy, too.”

“Yes, he would.”

“But you don’t think he did?”

“I’m not sure I believe he even killed his wife, much less Draymont. But I still think it was two different people. The fact remains, if the person who shot Draymont killed Cummins, then that person would have still been there. So why chase her upstairs with a knife? The shooter fired two nine-mill rounds into Draymont. I don’t know of any pistol that only chambers two nine-mill rounds. The shooter would’ve had plenty of ammo to take her out.”

“You make a compelling case, Decker, I’ll give you that. Shooter shoots and then leaves. Judge rushes down and while she’s trying to save Draymont a second person comes in with a knife and kills her.”

“Or they could have used a knife from her kitchen. The ME described a six-inch serrated blade. Lots of kitchen knives match that description. We’ll have to try to determine if any knives are missing.”

“So Draymont’s murder was premeditated, but Cummins’s was spur of the moment?”

“Maybe,” said Decker.

“If so, we’re talking one incredible coincidence.”

“And I don’t even like your run-of-the-mill coincidences, much less incredible ones.”

“I never pegged you for a sense of humor.”

“Don’t confuse humor with lack of a filter,” he cautioned.

“Where are we going now?”

“To find Tyler.”

“You mean, you have an idea where he is?” she said.

“I might.”

*



Arriving at the high school they saw that the mascot was the Monarch.

“Monarchs, huh? Always thought that was funny in a democratic country,” observed White as they parked in the visitor’s lot.

“I’ve seen lots of funny things lately in a democratic country, and I haven’t laughed at a single one of them.”

They got out. When Decker headed to the rear of the school grounds, White said, “Where are we going?”

“To Tyler’s world.”

“Tyler’s world?” said White as they walked along.

Decker pointed to the football stadium, where someone had turned on the lights illuminating the field. “There.”

As they drew nearer, they could both see Tyler, clad in shorts and no shirt, running all over the field catching footballs being thrown by another young man.

They went through the gate and walked down the bleacher steps to the track that ran around the fenced-in field.

“Nice facilities,” said White. “My high school football field was pretty much just a parking lot.”