Page 9 of Sentinel's Kiss

“Any idea why he did that?”

“You’ll have to ask him, but I wouldn’t go alone. Lord knows we tried to pin his wife’s murder on him, but we had nothing concrete and he weaseled out.”

“You think he did it?”

“Her brother sure as hell thought so. I can’t prove Stan Stevens did it, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Why not?” Ashley asked.

“He’s too practiced. That brother of hers was all emotion and rage. The husband was cool, calm, and collected, always showing just enough grief to be believable, but I never saw him once lose control.”

“Do you think Sarah was being abused by him?”

The sheriff sighed. “Maybe. The ME found older bruises on her. The husband explained that she had been in a fender bender a few months before her death and that she fell going down the stairs at the hospital where she worked. Both the stories checked out.”

“But…?” Ashley drawled out.

“But nothing I want to say on the record, without proof.”

“Gotcha.” Ashley pouted, but it wasn’t a denial, so that was something she could work with. “I appreciate you calling me back, Sheriff. You’ve been a big help.”

“I doubt that. But be careful.”

“I will.”

Ashley spent the rest of the drive brooding about the investigation. Stan had been exonerated of his wife’s murder for three big reasons. The first, of course, was his alibi. Ten men said he was with them all night long on the annual weekend camping trip. The second was he was deathly afraid of water. The same ten men and anyone else who knew him said he couldn’t swim, wouldn’t even go near a pool. Someone who was that afraid of water generally didn’t drive cars into lakes. And the lack of DNA evidence on Sarah’s body pretty much stalled the case.

Ashley couldn’t shake the feeling that Stan, like Josh, knew more than he was telling. She wasn’t sure how, but she was going to get one of them on the air for Wednesday.

---