Page 17 of Diamond in the Rough

“Richie Black, found in Trentwood Tip. Badly decomposed.”

“Lovely, but what’s that got to do with my client?”

“He was found exactly where Lewis said he’d be found.”

Maddox dropped his gaze to the table and frowned.

“Lewis, dead Lewis?” James said.

“He left a video recording. In the event of his death, it was to be released to the police department immediately.”

“And what did this recording say exactly?”

Detective Chandler smiled and twisted his laptop around. “See for yourself.”

Lewis appeared on screen, staring down the camera. He spoke without blinking and without an ounce of emotion. He told the camera how Maddox had smashed Richie’s head into the concrete, killing him instantly, and his body had been taken to Trentwood Tip. He said that Maddox threatened to kill him if he ever revealed what happened to Richie and he was recording the tape just in case, to be sure the Mad Dog would be finally leashed if anything happened to him.

The video ended, and Chandler closed the laptop and slid it to Detective Green.

“Early findings suggest Richie’s death was trauma to the head, exactly like Lewis described. We’ve got a witness who heard you kill Lewis, and now we have a motive: you didn’t want him revealing what happened to Richie. That’s two murders.”

“What about the footprints, and DNA in the woods—”

“Your accomplice.”

“My client didn’t have an accomplice. He was victim to a robbery, a robbery that cost him one of his closest friends.”

“Lewis named Maddox Henley as Richie’s killer. He feared for his life, knew Maddox was after him, and now he’s dead.”

“You only have circumstantial evidence, and Lewis could have been filmed under duress, maybe by this mystery woman witness. Look into her.”

“We swabbed your hands and clothes for gun residue,” Detective Green murmured.

James smirked. “My client had been shooting. Of course he had gun residue on him.”

“We swabbed him for Lewis’s blood. The blood splatter is consistent as if he had been standing in front of the victim. No wide, tattooed, bald man between you and him. We’ve taken prints from your shoes, tracked your movements.”

James threw his hands up. “And you’ve got footprints of the robber. That’s where your attention should be directed.”

Chandler smiled. “Yes, interesting prints, retro, distinguishable, a young man’s trainer.”

“A robber with bad taste,” James suggested.

“He was fast, made a lot of ground to get to the opposite side of the woods. Not the bulky man you described.”

“Big men can be agile too.”

“His stride, his lightness, it doesn’t fit with the description of your robber.”

“My client was in shock. His friend had just been murdered.”

Chandler dragged his gaze off Maddox and attached it to James. “You’ve got an answer for everything.”

“My client is innocent, of both counts of murder. Your case against him isn’t strong enough, and you know it.”

Chandler sighed and gestured to the door. “We’ll take a break.”

Detective Green shot Maddox a venomous look before climbing to his feet and turning away.

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