Page 24 of Sins of a Husband

“Yeah. I got it right here.” He grabbed the ring and held it up.

“Who pawned it?” Elijah asked.

“A homeless guy.”

“What?” My brows furrows.

“The guy was a homeless man. He camps with the others a couple of blocks from here in the alley. You can’t miss him. He’s wearing a long, brown, tattered coat and a knit hat with a hole in the back of it.”

“Thank you,” I say, and Elijah and I leave the store.

We walk a couple of blocks until we find the alley where some homeless people call home. I look around for the homeless man in a tattered brown coat and a knit hat with a hole in it, but I only see one man sitting in front of a garbage can, warming his hands with the roaring fire pouring from it.

“Hey. Have you seen a man in a long, tattered, brown coat and a knit hat with a hole in the back?”

“You mean, Max? Yeah, he’s across the street at the diner.” He points.

“Thank you.” I nod.

We walk across to the diner. When we step inside, Max is sitting in a corner booth. Elijah and I slide into the seat across from him.

“Max?” I ask.

“Who wants to know?” He bites into his large double burger.

“I’m Detective Walker, and this is Detective Matthews. You just pawned a diamond ring at the pawn shop a couple of blocks from here.”

“Yeah? So?”

“Where did you get the ring?” Elijah asks.

“I found it.”

“Where?” I ask.

“I woke up this morning, and it was lying on the ground next to me. I’m not the only one, though.”

“What do you mean?” My brows furrow.

“There was a bunch of jewelry scattered around all of us. We each got a piece of the pie.” A piece of burger flew out of his mouth and hit Elijah in the face. It took everything I had not to burst out into laughter. “We all split up and hit different pawn shops.”

That’s why there was nobody around the alley except that one man. My phone rings. Pulling it from my pocket, it’s Officer Lee calling.

“What do you have, Lee?” I answer.

“Jewelry is being pawned all over Brooklyn,” he says.

“That’s because it was dumped around homeless people. Thanks for letting me know.” I end the call and turn my attention back to Max. “So you didn’t see or hear anything last night?”

“Nothing. I woke up, and the ring was lying there, so I pawned it. A good meal is hard to come by these days.”

“Okay.” I slide out of the booth. “Thank you for your time.”

Elijah and I leave the diner. “So our Widowmaker is giving to the poor? Like he’s some kind of Robin Hood.” Elijah’s brow arches.

“It’s not about the money. He has no interest in the jewelry or what it costs. He only takes the items to make it seem like a robbery after he murders them. It’s all about the cheating. He’s punishing the men for cheating. Or should I say she?”

Chapter Seventeen

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