Page 82 of Trouble Comes in Threes

I blinked, trying to focus on what Joe hadn’t said. “Obviously you think there’s some bigger force a play if you’re considering Dermot a suspect.”

“I haven’t made a connection, but it’s too big of a coincidence for two people to be murdered in such a similar fashion is such a short time period.”

“How were they killed?”

He frowned. “You know I can’t be tellin’ you that.”

“I just witnessed a woman murdered in cold blood by a man who reeked of evil. I think I have a right to know if what I saw is part of this.”

He took a step back and ran his hand over his head. “We have no idea if they were related.”

“Where did you find the second body?”

“We haven’t released that information to the public yet.”

“I’m not the public, Joe,” I said with plenty of heat.

“It wasn’t in a warehouse, and it wasn’t a woman, okay? They are likely unrelated.”

“I need you to tell me where the body was found, Joe. It’s important.”

His face fell, and he studied me more closely. “You know something.”

“I know plenty of things,” I said, lifting my chin. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“You know something about the murders.”

“I’m not sure I do, but I do know something.”

“Why don’t you stop playing games and tell me what you know?” he asked with a grunt of frustration.

I crossed my arms over chest. “If you’re gonna get an attitude with me, then maybe I won’t tell you anything.”

He shot me a look of exasperation. “Do you know how it’s gonna look if it turns out you know something that could have helped this investigation and you didn’t tell me?”

I dropped my arms to my sides. I seemed to have lost all reason and replaced it with pure panic. “You’re more worried about how it’s going to look then about the safety of your wife and kids?”

His face paled. “What does that mean?”

Crap. Why had I let my anger get the best of me? I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, but the woman’s murder kept replaying in my head, and I was finding it hard to think straight. “This morning, someone showed up on a job site and told Bruce Wayne he was lookin’ for the Lady in Black.”

Joe’s eyes widened. “What?”

“He’d witnessed a crime and wanted Lady’s help. Bruce Wayne called me, and Neely Kate and I went over to talk to the guy. I tried to convince him to talk to you, but he freaked out and threatened to leave. He doesn’t trust the sheriff’s deputies. He says he’s been mistreated by them before.”

Joe’s eyes hardened. “So he’s got a record.”

“First of all, he’s a child,” I snapped. “He’s seventeen.”

“That is not a child, Rose.”

Ignoring him, I continued, “He has a charge of domestic violence against his stepfather, who was hurting him and his little sister. But of course, the deputies believed his stepfather.”

“How do you know he wasn’t lying to convince you to help him?”

“Because Dermot confirmed that teens in Pickle Junction aren’t treated fairly.”

His eyes widened. “So you have been talking to Dermot.” It sounded more like an accusation than a question.

---