Page 41 of Every Deadly Suspicion

Nodding to Nathan, Manny got up and left the room. Nathan decided to wait and said nothing. Manny returned and put the coffee in front of Colby, who lifted his head and grabbed the cup in both hands. Nathan let the kid take a couple of sips.

“Better?”

Ellis nodded, rubbed his hands all over his face, and then his fingers through his matted hair. “Okay, um, here it is, um, I didn’t lie about everything.”

Nathan leaned back in his chair. “Okay, what’s true?”

“I was hitching. No one was s-s-stopping.” He gulped some more coffee. “I had to pee. That’s what I was doing when the guy pulled up.”

“Did you think it was a ride?”

Ellis shook his head. “I thought it was a cop.”

“What?”

Ellis, more awake now, nodded. “It was a big black SUV. Cops drive those. I started for it, then stopped and watched for a fewminutes. I saw him open the side door and drag that woman out of the back seat.”

“Why lie?”

“’Cause if it was a cop, I’d be dead. I’d have been left on the roadside with the woman. Now I’m here, and you can’t kill me.”

“You don’t think it was a cop now?” Manny asked.

Ellis gave another head shake. “Things are clearer now. He had cowboy boots on. There was a normal license plate on the car, not a cop plate. And there was a bumper sticker.”

“Do you remember the plate numbers or letters?”

“No, no, just that it was white.”

“And the bumper sticker?”

“Yeah, I remember that. They’re everywhere. It said,Vote Keyes for Chief.”

Nathan felt a jolt and struggled to keep his face blank. “Did you get a good look at the guy?”

Ellis leaned back and closed his eyes. “Oh man, he was tall; it was dark.”

“Come on, Colby, no more lies.”

He put his hands over his ears and moaned.

Nathan resisted the urge to reach over and shake the kid. Instead, he slid a legal pad and a pencil across the table. “Write down everything you remember. The truth, Colby. If you help us catch this guy, there may be a reward in it for you.”

That brought a little more light into the kid’s eyes. He reached for the pen, and Nathan waited while he wrote.

CHAPTER 21

NOTHING WAS MORE DRAININGthan a tough homicide case. Hanna watched Nathan drive away knowing Edda’s death weighed on him like Scott’s weighed on her. The frustration of not knowing where to look for the next lead bit like the sting of a wasp.

Back in her office, Hanna went through the pile of messages on her desk. Most of them were media inquiries about the investigation into Scott’s death and the discovery of Edda Fairchild. A couple of reporters wanted to do on-air interviews about both stories. Hanna could speak to Scott’s case, but Nathan’s case was not her jurisdiction. All the bodies had been found on county land, so she would have to refer that case to the sheriff’s department.

“You saw that request from channel seven.” Terry Holmes poked his head in the door.

“Yeah. I’m fine with your doing an interview if you wish. We’re at a standstill. Everett didn’t have anything helpful to say, and we still need to talk to Chase.”

Terry held up a folder. “Everyone I’ve interviewed lines up with what Everett had to say. According to Grover, the morning Scott left to fly, Everett was busy with Braden and the riding instructor. Scott was in the house, doing his own thing until he left. Groveris not even sure what time he left to go to the airfield. Chase was nowhere around. He doesn’t live in the main house.”

“I think I’ve heard that before. After his injuries, Everett built him his own place on the property.”

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