Page 52 of A Cry in the Dark

“Well?” she asked.

“I can confirm that Nadine Fields was a drug runner for Whiskey—a Whiskey Girl. She was reliable and never crossed him. He considered her trustworthy. Greg asked how we already knew that, but I kept our answer close to the vest. I see no reason to offer him anything more than necessary. He’s not doing us any real favors. And quite frankly... I don’t think I trust him.”

His hair was a little mussed, and he looked tired around his soft brown eyes, but he still had light in them. Like little pops of amber shining on.

“Did Jimmy’s story match his?”

“All except he said that Nadine called a girlfriend over first and she called Whiskey. Ruby Boyd.”

“Relation to Imogene Boyd? She a Whiskey Girl too?”

“I don’t know. He just said Ruby called Whiskey and had arrived a few minutes earlier to see Nadine’s condition.”

“I wonder why Jimmy didn’t mention Ruby’s being there.”

“Maybe she was gone by the time Jimmy got there. Or maybe he didn’t want to involve her.”

Violet made a mental note to find out.

John stepped inside, turning up his nose at the stale but pungent pot scent. “How long you been here?”

“Not long. Did Greg think Whiskey could have beaten her up?”

“He says no. But again, I don’t trust him. My wife worked for Whiskey undercover, and she ended up dead, so anything is possible.”

Whiskey could be the Blind Eye Killer, but Violet wasn’t sold on it. They were after a diabolical serial killer with a fetish for eyes. And pretty women. “He tell you where you might find Whiskey?”

“He’s not giving him up, and I don’t think anyone in town will either. He’s buttering bread, supplying addicts with the goods and instilling fear in the rest. He’s untouchable.” John ran his finger along the cheap Formica counter. “He did say that he and Whiskey were here. He saw Nadine alive. Either Whiskey isn’t the BEK and didn’t hurt Nadine, or if he is, then he beat her up, got interrupted and left, came back with Greg when called, then returned again to finish. That’s a lot of trouble to go to. Not to mention he probably slept with her prior to her getting roughed up. Somebody did.”

But who?

“Might be whoever was smoking that joint.” He pointed to the now empty ashtray. “Maybe we’ll get DNA.”

They split up and combed the house. Violet was interested in finding a leather purse. All the other victims and Lula’s mom had one. She hoped to find one here. That was the only connection besides the fact the first three victims cleaned houses.

Nadine did not. She worked part-time at the corner market and, apparently, the rest of the time running drugs for Whiskey.

Violet opened Nadine’s closet. Nothing fancy. Sparse even. She noticed a ridge making the wall uneven, and she tugged on a panel, revealing a duffel bag shoved inside a small crevice. She unzipped the bag and found it full of loose money, a variety of bills. Was she using the canvas bag as a bank? Had she stolen or skimmed drug money? If so, Whiskey had every reason, in his mind, to kill her. He could have copycatted the previous murders, but without all the details, he’d tipped his hand.

She carried the money into the kitchen and laid it on the counter as John exited the other bedroom. She showed him what she’d found and shared her thoughts.

“You could be right. But if he knew she was taking money, why not take the duffel bag? The beatings could have been to get her to spill the tea on where it was hidden.”

John had an excellent point. “Then he didn’t know she was skimming, and the slight differences in the murders could be the killer was in a rush and sloppy with Nadine since we’re breathing down his neck. He’s panicked but can’t control his urges.”

John massaged the back of his neck. “Find anything other than the money?”

“No.” Her sight wandered to the counter, and she spotted a purse. Brown suede with fringe around the bottom. It wasn’t a pouch, but it looked similar to the others in material. She examined it. Unzipped it. Inside was tissue, old mints, loose change and few lip glosses. Looked like she’d changed purses and left the miscellaneous items inside.

A logo was stamped on the inside pocket in bright yellow.

A?

The sign for alpha and omega. She grabbed her phone and googled alpha and omega combined with leather goods, and one shop popped up. A? Handcrafted Leathers. Crow’s Creek, Kentucky.

Bingo.

“You want to shop for fine leather goods? Or at least leather goods.” She held up the purse. “Alpha and Omega Handcrafted Leathers. It’s local, and I’ll wager that’s where the other purses came from too.”

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