Page 114 of Fatal Witness

The door opened, and her heartbeat quickened when Nathan stepped inside the room. Their gazes lingered a second before he sat in a nearby chair.

“Glad you could make it,” Alex said, managing to not sound breathy. She’d already gone over the previous information with him, so he hadn’t missed anything. “The police chief here has had more contact with him than the county.”

Nathan raised his brows. “Who are you talking about?”

“Toby Mitchell.”

“Oh. Bad thing, what happened. He was a frequent resident in our little jail. What do you have on his murder?”

Alex glanced over her notes. “Not a lot. TBI and the Hamilton County medical examiner will send me a report when they finishthe crime scene. But according to a preliminary report I received from the ME, the body didn’t show signs of being transported a long distance, indicating he was killed on-site.”

“You’re going to let TBI handle it?”

“Yeah. They have better resources than we do, but we’re assisting. I think it’ll point back to the case we’re working.” She nodded at Mark as he stepped back in the room. “Learn anything from the airport manager?”

“Just that she often saw Toby cleaning up an old two-seater biplane at the airport but never had heard of him having a pilot’s license.”

“Good work. Anything else, anyone?”

When no one spoke, Alex pulled the crime board front and center. “From here on out we’ll be considering the murders of Bobby and Neva Bennett.” She eyed Mae and Dani. “Are you two sure you want to stay?”

“I am,” Mae said.

“Me too.”

Dani didn’t sound as sure. Alex turned to the older woman. “Mae, I’d like for you to explain who you have on your board, then I’d like for Hayes to take you home.”

“We’ll see about Hayes when I finish.” Mae stood and used a cane to steady herself as she walked to the board. “Confounded doctor said I had to use this thing.” She pointed the cane to the right side of the board. “He didn’t say how I had to use it.”

Everyone laughed, breaking some of the tension.

“And before you ask how I came up with this, I’m no Jessica Fletcher, but I saw enough true-crime programs before you were born to put one of these together.

“I’m going to focus on the left side here that deals with Bobby. Neva and Danielle have nothing to do with what we’re discussing today.” She tapped Bobby’s photo. “I have him listed and all of his known acquaintances and friends.” She named each one.“Toby Mitchell, Kyle Peterson, Keith Bennett, Rick Adkins, Ralph Tennyson and his brother, Craig, and Ben Tennyson.”

Her cane landed on the mayor’s name. “Looking at him now, it’s hard to believe, but my great-nephew had already gotten in trouble at the casino over in Murphy, North Carolina. Underage drinking and gambling. Cost his dad a pretty penny to get him out of it. Thankfully, he turned himself around.”

Mae tapped the board. “All have one thing in common. None of them have an alibi for the night Bobby and Neva were murdered.” Alex started to interrupt, and Mae held up her finger. “I know—Craig and Ben alibied each other, but that doesn’t count in my books.”

She had a point. Alex turned to the others in the room. “You have a list of these names and the research Mae did in your folder. Look over the material when we take a break.”

“How do you know they don’t have alibis?” Dylan asked.

“Some I flat out asked, others, like Pastor Rick, were by accident. He wasn’t in Chattanooga visiting his sister like he told the church secretary—not that I believe for a minute that he has anything to do with Neva’s death. But he and Bobby had been seen together several times at the pool hall before Bobby was killed, and he wasn’t in Chattanooga, at least not seeing his sister. The very first time I saw her after Neva died, she told me how sorry she was that she hadn’t come to the funeral. Turns out she’d been in Kentucky helping her daughter who just had a baby when Neva died.”

“How about the diamonds?” Mark asked.

Mae pointed to a photo on the board of diamonds she’d cut from a magazine. “Neva called me the day they were killed and told me what Bobby had been doing.” She turned to Alex. “I should’ve called your granddaddy as soon as I hung up, but I didn’t. I told him afterwards, but then it was too late.”

Silence filled the room. “I think now would be a good timefor a break,” Alex said as her cell phone rang. Sheriff Crider in Montana. “Stone,” she answered, stepping out into the hallway. “Do you have anything on the bullet?”

“The bullet is a match for the murders in Tennessee.”

“So the cases are related.”

“Yes.”

They discussed the case for a few minutes, then she hit the end button and slipped her phone in her back pocket.

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