Page 89 of Among the Innocent

Henry met them as soon as they entered the station. “He’s in the interrogation room.”

Dalton nodded and faced Leah. “I want you there. This man has seen John and spoken to him. He knows something.”

Leah’s breath came in fits and starts. He kept a close watchon her as they entered the room. The man they’d arrested had been cuffed to the table.

“Why am I here, man?” he demanded. “All I was doing was looking for the weed.”

“Weed?” Dalton couldn’t believe he’d heard him correctly. “You went to an Amish farm looking for weed?” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Leah shared his reaction. “Don’t jerk us around. What’s your name?”

“Scotty—Scott Garner. And I’m not jerking you around. I was told there was a stash of weed hidden in the barn. That’s all I was doing there. I wasn’t trying to hurt no one. I swear!”

“Why would you think you’d find pot at an Amish farm?” Unless someone had told him so deliberately. Someone like John.

The whole thing was a setup. The only question? What did John hope to gain by it?

“Hetold me. He said they weren’t really Amish, only pretending to be as a cover to hide their weed operation. There was supposed to be tons stored in bales of hay in the barn.”

“Who are you talking about?” Leah asked.

Scotty’s brow shot up a mile. “I don’t know his name. He never told me.”

“Scott, you’re in a lot of trouble here,” Dalton said sternly. “Think carefully. What does this man look like?”

Scott shook his head and blew out a loud breath. “I don’t know—just a guy. I guess he looks a little like me, only taller. He has the same hair color, only his is longer and stringy.”

“Where did you meet this man?” Dalton’s tone was skeptical. The whole story sounded made up.

“At the house.” Scott glanced past Dalton to Leah, trying toplead his case with her. “You have to believe me. I only went there for the weed.”

“What house?” Leah pulled out a chair and sat across from Scott. “Tell us everything. If you didn’t have anything to do with the murders, then you have nothing to worry about.”

“The old adobe house outside of town. Lots of people flop there. He crashes there sometimes. He even gave me his car to use.”

“To use for what?” Dalton asked.

“I told you. To get the weed. I don’t know nothing about anyone dying.”

Dalton pulled up the photo they’d taken from Eva’s phone. “Is this the man?” He showed the picture to Scott.

“Yeah, that’s him, only his hair is a different color. Like mine. Although I always thought it looked weird—like maybe he wore a wig or something.”

Dalton swung to Leah. “Let’s step outside for a second.” In the hall, he ran a hand across his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I think he’s high, but he’s telling the truth.”

“Chief?” Henry hurried their way. “I ran Garner’s name. He has a few possession charges, but other than that he’s clean.”

“Anything on the car?”

“It was stolen two days ago in Polson,” the officer replied.

Dalton’s sigh came from his deep frustration. “John is playing with us. He knew Willa spoke to us, so he sent Garner.”

“What do you want to do?” Leah asked.

“Let’s go to the flophouse. Maybe the killer is still there.”

A handful of lights were on inside the house. He finished buttoning the uniform. He’d carefully lured out the two copswatching the place and one by one knocked them out. Getting both inside the trunk had taken some effort, but he was determined. It was all part of the plan. He’d made sure to gag the two so they couldn’t make a sound. There would be another cop inside. To overpower the man, he’d need to fool him into believing he was one of them.

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