Page 109 of Crosshairs

“We’ve known him all his life. His mother worked for both of us as a domestic. She often brought him along with her in the summers.” Her shoulders slumped. “He was such a polite boy, always saying ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘no, ma’am.’ We were so tickled when he took over management of the Blue Lantern. We went by to see him every week.”

She shifted her attention to Ainsley. “You remember his mother—she looked after you sometimes when I had errands to run and Cora was busy.”

Ainsley searched her memory, and a hazy figure emerged. A large woman with red hair and freckles. And with her a tall, skinny boy older than Ainsley ... Her insides cringed. He’d been creepy, skulking around the house, hiding and then jumping out at her, yelling, “Gotcha!”“That was Ronald McClain?”

“We called him Sonny,” Gran said.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about the secret staircase?”

“We were afraid you’d fall down it. The entry in the basement was supposed to be boarded up—come to think of it, Sonny’s father did the work.”

That was how he knew about the stairs.

“Did you ever talk to him about the book Cora’s writing?” Linc asked.

“Oh yes, and sometimes she went on and on about that book...” Gran’s brow furrowed. “Oh, wait ... I remember now. He came over to Cora’s, and she let him read that first diary she found. It was about a week later that it went missing. I always suspected he took it somehow—as a kid he had sticky fingers, if you know what I mean.”

“Did he steal from you?” Nate asked.

“I remember him now,” Ainsley said, “He took my Matchbox cars!”

Gran nodded. “We never could prove it, though, and it wasn’t just your little cars. He took food, candy, and the like that we had lying around. Not that we begrudged him the food.”

Linc inclined his head toward Rose. “Did you ask him about the diary?”

“Cora wouldn’t, but I did. He swore on his mama’s grave that he didn’t take it.”

“You should’ve made a report,” Pete said.

“I told Cora that, but she would never do anything to get Sonny in trouble. She’s always had a soft spot for him.” Gran’s face fell, and she cupped her hand to the side of her face. “Oh my, I hate to be the one to tell her what he’s done.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ainsley said. “I’ll tell her.”

“Would she have told Sonny about the new diaries she found?” Linc asked.

Gran stared at the floor a minute, then lifted her gaze. “She might have called him since he seemed really interested in her book, more than almost anyone else. Have you checked the log on her caller ID?”

Ainsley wanted to slap her head. “No. But until tonight, we weren’t certain a crime had been committed.” She stood and hugged her grandmother. “I’m going back to Cora’s to check that out. I hope you’re going to bed.”

“You’re going to stay over there again tonight?”

“Yep.” Ainsley wasn’t convinced McClain was her shooter either, and if someone came after her again, she didn’t want her grandmother caught in the crossfire.

The chief and sheriff left directly from Gran’s, and only Jonathan Rogers from Natchez PD remained at Cora’s when Ainsley and Linc returned.

“If you need me, I’ll be in the basement dusting for prints,” Jonathan said. “And then I’m leaving.”

She gave him a thumbs-up and walked to the desk, where Cora kept her landline, her gaze drawn to the blood on the carpet where McClain had fallen. She added cleaning the carpet on her mental to-do list. Ainsley did not want Cora coming home and having to deal with the man’s blood.

She picked up Cora’s landline phone. It was cordless, unlike the wall phone in the kitchen. Linc looked over her shoulder as she checked the caller ID and wrote down the last few numbers on the received calls list. Next she checked the redial list and listed them, leaving off Gran’s number, which occurred more than any other.

On a hunch, she redialed the last number Cora called and put it on speakerphone. After four rings it went to voice mail.

“Hello. You’ve reached Ronald McClain. Hours for the Blue Lantern are ten ’til ten.For anything else leave me a message.”

Ainsley disconnected. “It looks like Cora called him, probably Thursday night, but we’d have to contact her service provider or check McClain’s phone to see what time.”

“If McClain had his phone with him, it should have been bagged.” Linc asked, “I wonder if Pete took the evidence to the police department?”

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