Page 44 of Justice for Daesha

Amos gave Chance what he hoped was a soothing smile. “That was very generous of you.”

“Eh. Doesn’t cost us all that much to make, what with the markup, and we’ve been friends all our lives.” At that statement, Chance began to fiddle with the back edge of the desktop, and Amos realized he was going the right direction.

“So you’ve known each other your entire lives?”

“Yeah. Our parents are friends. And I miss Alice. She was like a second mother to me.”

That must be Daesha’s mother’s name, Amos thought. He’d never heard her called anything but Mom, which wasn’t surprising. “So you were close?”

“Daesha and me? I guess. I was closer to her sister. We were almost the same age, and I was held back a year, so we were in the same grade.”

“So I’m sort of looking at her murder and wondering what happened there. About that ring, I mean.” It was time to play his hand, and he wondered what kind of reaction he’d get. “Of course, you don’t know anything about that because you weren’t there,” Amos replied, hoping to calm any of Chance’s fears. He didn’t want the guy locking up on him. “But we started looking for a piece of jewelry that it could’ve been. Daesha didn’t know anything about it, and it wasn’t in Dorinda’s personal effects. But we managed to find a picture of her wearing it.”

Something shifted in the room and Chance’s eyes seemed larger. “Oh? Really?”

Amos pulled out the photo of Dorinda with the ring on her finger and watched as Chance winced. “Oh, I’m sorry. I know that’s kind of an unsettling photo, but it’s the only one we’ve got.”

“Yeah, um, that was brutal, the killing, I mean. Horrifying. Why anybody would do that to a woman as sweet as Dorinda, I don’t understand.”

“Me either. Daesha said she didn’t have an enemy in the world.”Time to pour it on, Fletcher, he told himself. “So I’m thinking the ex-husband was the culprit.”

Some of the tension seemed to visibly leave Chance’s body. “Yeah, I’ve wondered about Max all along.”

Here we go.“Like maybe he was jealous of the relationship you had with her?”

Chance stiffened and his irises flared. “Relationship? We were just friends.”

“Yeah, well, see, here’s the problem. That ring?” Amos took out a picture of the logo for KelsoCustom Percussion. “This is your logo. If you trace just right on the ring, look at that! It makes your logo! Isn’t that a coincidence?”

Chance was paling, and Amos knew there was more to the story than he was letting on. “Um, wow, yeah, that is coincidental. Very. What does that design mean?”

Amos shrugged innocently. “We have no idea. I just thought that was pretty weird, the way that works. What were the chances, huh?”

“Yeah. The chances. Uh, I’ve got a potential retailer coming by in about an hour, so I need to get ready to meet with him and?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry. Just barged in here. But I knew you’d want to help me with Dorinda’s murder, so I appreciate you taking time to talk to me.” Amos stood and extended a hand. Chance’s didn’t tremble, but his palm was sweaty, and that was a sure indicator of his stress level.

“No trouble at all. Thanks for stopping by. Oh, and please, tell Daesha I said hello and I’d love to see her sometime.”

“I will when I see her. I’ll just see myself out so I don’t trouble you any further. You have a good day, Mr.Kelso.”

“You too, AgentFletcher.”

As Amos walked out, he fought a smile. Something was definitely going on, and he had to get to his car. There would be a phone call made as soon as he cleared the building, he was sure. Waving to the receptionist, he strolled through the giant doors, slipped into the Jeep, and drove to the parking lot next door. Once he was stopped, he brought up the app on his phone.

God, it was crystal clear! He’d have to remember to thank Jack. There was the sound of papers being shuffled around, and then another sound, maybe a door. The next thing he heard was a toilet flushing, and he remembered there was a bathroom off the office.Scared the piss out of him, he thought and laughed to himself. There was what passed for silence, and then he heard it.

“Yeah, it’s Chance. I need to speak to… I don’t give ashitthat he’s busy, I need to talk to himnow.” There was an assertiveness in his voice that Amos hadn’t believed the man possessed, and the sound that followed was footsteps. He was pacing. Good. “Hey, there was a KDCI agent here just now. They’re looking into Dorinda’s murder and… He’s got a picture of the ring. And he made the connection between the design on it and my logo, so it’s only a matter of time before… No, I haven’t talked to him, but if you get a visit from this guy, we probably should or he’ll… I don’t know if this is something she asked them to do or if they’re doing it on their own, but… I know, but if we don’t do something pre-emptive, then we… Oh, he’s gonna be madder than hell. Of course, I don’t care what you guys think?I’ve thought he did this all along. If he ever admits it, I swear I’ll… I realize that, but killing somebody wasn’t in my best interest. Or yours. It was inhisbest interest… Uh-huh… Okay. Let me know. Bye.”

Who had Chance called? It was someone who knew about his logo’s incorporation into the design. He’d said,So it’s only a matter of time before…There were more people involved. He’d already reported to them. It was up to Amos to find out who they were and get to them too.

Dorinda had most definitely been murdered by someone ChanceKelso knew, and Amos had every intention of finding out who that someone was.

* * *

The office wasquiet when Amos returned, and he took a seat at his desk and brought his computer up. There was an email about the deputy jailer case, and when he looked at it, he knew it was almost over. They guy had given no explanation for what was seen on the video, and the state’s attorney was planning to indict him. That was that.

By the time he got to Daesha’s, she was already home and a delicious aroma was wafting from the kitchen. He was prepared to call out her name, but she met him at the door with a huge smile. “Hi! I’m glad you’re here,” she said and waited until he gave her a sweet, satisfying kiss.

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