Page 16 of Diamond in the Rough

“If anyone can scramble their way to freedom in the dark, it’s you.”

James looked Maddox up and down, then snorted. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it however you want. Just get me out of here.”

The door swung open, and the detectives walked inside. They placed two folders on the table, one with Richie Black’s name on and the other with Lewis’s. They prepped the tape recorder, then one of them spoke.

“I’m Detective Inspector Chandler, and with me is Detective Green, James Maloney, and suspect, Maddox Henley.”

“Suspect for what?” James asked.

“Murder.”

James pressed his forefinger down on Lewis’s folder. “We’ve been through this. No motive, no witnesses, and another at the scene—”

“More information has come to light.”

“What information?”

“A witness.”

James turned to Maddox. “It was just the two of you in the woods.”

Maddox nodded. “And the tattooed, bald man that came from nowhere.”

Detective Chandler snorted, then shook his head. “Lewis begged for his life, and you executed him without mercy.”

“Says who?”

“The witness.”

James threw up his hands. “I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not revealing her name. She fears for her life. Asked for an unmarked car to be placed outside her residency, which is where we picked you up this afternoon.”

“She saw my client carry out the crime?”

“She heard it.”

James frowned. “Heard it?”

“Lewis managed to call her, and she heard him beg for his life. A shot rang out, and the call was disconnected from the other side. You disconnected it. We’ve got evidence of that from the deceased’s phone.”

“But no audio record of the call.”

Detective Chandler pressed his lips together, then turned to Maddox. “Why were you on Regent Street just now?”

“I was on my way to the bank.”

“You pulled up outside the witness’s flat.”

“Coincidence.”

James snorted. “I’m sorry, but what has this got to do with Richie Black?”

Chandler brushed Lewis’s file to the other detective. He placed his hand on Richie’s folder, then unbound the string. The first image was a corpse, no longer Richie but bones, shreds of clothes, and rotten flesh.

James recoiled from the table. “Jesus Christ.”

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