Page 85 of Evidence of a Folktale

“And he’s been in the hospital this entire time?” Griffin asked.

“He has.”

“And he’s still there?”

“He is. Now that he’s remembered his name, the doctors believe he’ll go home soon, but they want to keep him for a few more days.”

“I’m glad he recovered.” Griffin shifted to stare at Bel, their only suspect vanishing into nothingness.

“Us too,” the officer said. “And even though I wouldn’t wish an accident like this on anyone, I’m thankful he didn’t violate parole. Chayce is a good man. He’s been working hard since he got out, and I didn’t want to see him go back inside.”

“That’s great,” Griffin said. “Before I go, can I ask one more question?”

“Shoot.”

“What’s your opinion of him? Did Chayce do what he was accused of?”

“It was an accident,” the man said.

“I realize that, but I’m sure you’ve seen the news about our Aesop’s Files case. Chayce’s name has surfaced more than once as well as doubt surrounding his guilt.”

“I’ve heard rumors of doubttoo, but he was found guilty. I’ll never know what happened on set, but Orion Chayce isn’t irresponsible or cruel. It’s why his disappearance was so alarming. He isn’t the type to jeopardize his future.”

Bel and Griffin shared a silent exchange that was more conversation than most could convey with an entire dictionary.

“I see,” the sheriff said. “Thank you for returning my call.”

“No problem. Have a good day.” The man hung up, and both officers sagged in their seats.

“I’m glad the guy’s okay, but that leaves us with nothing,” Bel said. “We’ve ruled out Alaric Randall and Orion Chayce. We have no other suspects.”

“Where do we look now?” Griffin crumbled the junk papers on his desk and launched them into the trash witha littletoo much force.

“It would help us narrow our suspect pool down if fans weren’t flooding our town for these events,” Bel said.

“Or it could take the killer with them if they leave.”

“It wouldn’t. He’s not done. If the killer’s a fan, he’d find a way to stay behind, but now I wonder if he’s a current show employee. We believe the killer is trusted among the cast and crew, andhe’s someone whoknows enough police procedure to keep us guessing. The first victim was the head writer, and theyresearchforensics and law enforcement for the scripts. Multiple police consultants have worked on Aesop’s Files over the years, so I’m sure their writers know far too much about how to stage a clean murder scene. I might have even helped. I was there protecting Taron, but to sell the act, I acted as a consultant. Everyone asked me questions. I thought I was helping, but what if I was feeding the killer all the info that he needed to trick us?”

“With Chayce and Randall eliminated, that’s the next most logical place to start. I’ll have Gold look into the show’s writers and consultants.” Griffin stood and shrugged into his coat. “I’m going to talk to Miss Pierce. I suspect she’ll be more receptive to our request now that our killeris targetingproducers.”

“I can help Olivia.”

“No.” He grabbed his keys and aimed for the door. “This is only your second day back after the accident, and you just found a dead man in your backyard. You’re working from the station.”

“Sheriff—”

“This isn’t up for debate, Emerson. Give me at least one more day before Ihave tostart worrying about you again.” And before she could protest further, he exited his office.

“How did it go?”Bel asked instead of saying hello.

“Better than I expected and worse than I wanted,” Griffin answered through the connection, and she pinned her phone between her shoulder and ear to free up her hands.

“I got the mayor involved, and thankfully the studio listened to reason,” he said. “Evelyn Pierce is to thank for that. Alistair Rot’s death proved she isn’t safe, so they agreed to cancel the fan events.”

“That’s good,” Bel said. “Not that there are many left.”

“No, but it’ll reduce our town’s population. Not everyone will leave, but we’re putting out a request that they do. The fewer people, the more the killer will stand out… I hope.”

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