Page 58 of Joey

“Elliott Kennedy.”

“I thought the case was closed.”

Detective Harmon nodded. “It was, but we have had new information come to light. We’re following up on it.”

“What kind of information?”

Harmon glanced at Ani. “Can we go somewhere private?”

Joey frowned. “My studio is this way.” He headed for the stairs. “Ani, can you let Ethan know where I am when he’s done, please? He can come in at any time.”

“Sure thing.”

He led the officers to his tattoo studio, and Keith closed the door behind him.

“So, what’s this about?” Joey asked, resting his hip against the sideboard and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Some pictures have come to our attention. From the night of the party,” Harmon said. “We’d like you to look at them and see if you can identify the people in them.”

Joey nodded. “Sure.”

He handed over a folder, and Joey opened it. A large picture with Elliott front and centre sent a wave of grief through him. He stared at his best friend for a long moment, wishing things were different, and then focused on the others.

“Anyone in particular?” he asked, ignoring the crushing sensation in his chest.

Harmon stopped beside him. “Him and him,” he said, pointing.

“That’s Dennis Carter. You know the guitarist from The Ports?” The detective nodded. “The other is…” He stared at the face, mind whirling. “The other is Grey Kennedy.”

“A relation to Elliott?”

Joey swallowed hard. The true relation was not known by many. So, did Joey tell them the lie about Grey being Elliott’s cousin—as no one knew Grey was Melinda’s son, though they did know he was Robert’s son—or the truth about them being brothers? Before he had to answer, there was a knock, and Ethan came in.

“Hey, Ani said I could come in.” Ethan looked unsure but strong, and Joey waved him over.

“These are Detectives Harmon and Keith. They have questions about the night of the party.” Joey showed Ethan the photo when he stopped beside him. “They want to know who these are.”

Ethan tensed, but Joey doubted anyone else had noticed. “Dennis Carter and Grey Kennedy. I’m assuming you know who Dennis is, but Grey is Elliott’s cousin.”

There was the answer Joey needed. They were going with the lie for now. Had Ethan come to the same conclusion Joey had?

“Father’s side or mother’s?” Harmon asked.

“Father’s. Robert Kennedy is Elliott’s uncle,” Joey said.

Harmon glanced at Keith, who nodded. “We have reason to believe there was an altercation that night, but we don’t have information as to who the involved people were besides Elliott. We’re trying to find out because there was additional bruising found on Elliott’s body that was unaccounted for. Initially, we put it down to—” Harmon stopped himself and blinked before continuing. “We put it down to cause and effect, but now we’re not so sure.”

Keith’s phone rang, and he excused himself to a corner to answer it.

“And you think one of these men had something to do with it?”

Harmon shook his head. “We just want to talk to them.”

Keith came up to them. “And we’d like to know what you and Dennis Carter spoke about today.”

That’s what the phone call had been about. They’d found out about their meeting.

Joey stared down at the photograph. As much as he wanted to keep Elliott’s secrets, he needed to find out the truth. He glanced at Ethan and sighed. Refocusing on the officers, he said, “Dennis and Elliott had been seeing each other for a while. I don’t know exactly how long. Dennis was in the closet, and they met up at the parties. I don’t know if they met up outside of them as well.” He sighed again and pointed at Grey. “Grey is not Elliott’s cousin. He’s Elliott’s brother. Grey visited us yesterday and told us that Robert had an affair with Elliott’s mother. They had Elliott, although John claimed him, but when Melinda fell pregnant with Grey, Melinda insisted she put him up for adoption. I’m only going by what Grey told us Elliott had found out.” He stared at Harmon. “I’m not convinced Elliott’s death was a suicide.”

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