Whisper of Bones (Widow's Island #3)(19)

Peter pivoted and paced in a furious circle. “This dude was rude to my wife. She was my girlfriend at the time. He grabbed her boobs, and I punched him in the face.”

OK, if he was telling the truth, Logan couldn’t blame him for that. He’d have done the same.

“So why were you charged?” Tessa asked.

Peter stopped, almost vibrating with indignation. “Because I’m me, and the dude was this rich asshole with a lawyer for a daddy. No one saw the rich asshole grab Shayla. There were six witnesses who testified that I attacked him for no reason. The fact that all of them were his friends didn’t matter to the judge.” He stood still, his chest puffing in and out as he took deep breaths.

He needed practice with those anger-management techniques.

“Thank you.” Tessa nodded. “We’ll probably have more questions. Please let me know if you think of anything that might relate to Jason’s death.”

“Are you going to arrest me?” Peter challenged.

“Not at this time,” Tessa answered carefully.

“Then I’m done answering questions.” Peter’s voice rose. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

Logan took a step closer to Tessa.

Peter turned and delivered a bare-knuckle punch to the bag.

“We’re just looking for the truth,” Tessa said. “If you think of anyone you saw on Monday, call me.”

Peter glared at her. “If I had known I was going to need an alibi, I would’ve made plans.”

Tessa and Logan returned to the vehicle.

“That was an interesting interview.” Tessa drove away from the house. “Peter did not want to volunteer information, and he has a short fuse.”

“He was barely holding it together,” Logan agreed. “I couldn’t envision Roger Duvall attacking Jason in anger, but I can totally see Peter Evans losing his cool.”

“And he’s strong enough to carry off a dead body or three.”

“Does he move to the top of the list?” Logan asked.

“He has a previous conviction for assault, and Jason was assaulted. But there’s no real top or bottom of our suspect list at this point. What we need is something from forensics. Physical evidence that will tie one of our suspects to Jason’s murder directly.” Tessa rubbed her temple. “But that will take time. I’m going to review, regroup, and type up notes tonight.”

“The investigation is going backward. Instead of eliminating suspects, we’re accumulating more.”

“It would be really great if someone had a solid alibi.”





7


Tessa eyed the darkening sky. “The sun’s going down. I should get home.”

Her mother’s dementia became worse after dark, a condition known as Sundowner syndrome. Tessa had already worked several hours past the end of her shift. And as much as she wanted to solve the case, Jason McCoy wasn’t going to get any deader overnight. Juggling work and caring for her mother and teenage sister was harder than Tessa had ever imagined. She did her best, and her family had to be just as important as her job.

“How is your mother?” Logan asked.

“About the same. The medication hasn’t helped very much.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tessa sighed. “There isn’t anything else I can do. There’s no cure. All I can do is try and keep her safe and at home for as long as possible.”

As Tessa drove, she called Bruce and warned him he was on speakerphone. “Have you or Marybeth made any progress?”

“No,” Bruce said. “I’m still working on the computer. Jason’s hard drive is cluttered with years and years of documents. Marybeth is about halfway through the files.” His voice lowered. “She hasn’t stopped, but she looks tired.”

“Call it a day, and start fresh tomorrow.” Tessa couldn’t expect a woman in her late sixties to work all night. “Would you make sure she gets home safely?”

“I will,” Bruce said. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll take the laptop home with me and keep working on it.”

“It’s fine, but get some sleep too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce said before the call disconnected.

Tessa and Logan agreed to meet at the station at seven o’clock the following morning. Then she dropped Logan at the station where he’d left his vehicle. She drove to the cottage she’d been raised in. Lights glowed in the windows, and Cate’s vehicle sat out front.

Tessa stepped out of the SUV and closed the door. She started up the front walk. A small golden shape rushed around the side of the house. Tessa had no time to react. The chicken lowered its head and ran straight into Tessa’s legs.

“Ow!” She moved sideways, trying to avoid the sharp beak. Her mother had always owned chickens. Most of them were friendly, except the alpha hen, who only liked Tessa’s mother. “Damn it! Stop that.”

Tessa reached down and scooped the chicken up in her arms. The hen squawked and pecked at her hands as she rounded the side of the house. Tessa carried her into the enclosure and latched the gate. With the chicken still tucked firmly under her arm, Tessa used the flashlight from her duty belt to open the coop and do a quick head count. It seemed as if only the one hen had escaped.