“Oh, Mr. Buchanan…”
He stuck his head back in, the same look of barely suppressed rage on his face.
“What?”
“Seems like you have an anger-management issue, sir. That makes you seem less like a cooperating citizen and more like a suspect. And even if I can’t place you on that boat Sunday morning, I’ll check your alibi. Very indiscreetly, if you get me. Then I have a lot of ways to let your partners know about your little hidden life. And what you think about Elder and Moeller. They won’t like any of it, especially that last part. So be careful I don’t fuck you over. How does that make you feel, counselor?”
Will stuffed down his own anger as the door slammed hard and Kenneth Buchanan stalked over to a new Mercedes Benz. It was amazing, watching this man walk fast with no effort, no thought to it at all.
He started the car and his phone rang. It was Diane Henderson.
“How’s the lawyer?”
“Pissed and full of threats.” Will gave her the rundown.
“Do you like him for this?”
“I don’t dislike him,” Will said. “He claims he’s got an alibi, but my gut says he’s hiding something.”
“Trust your gut. They were lovers. They broke up. She was seeing other men. Jealousy is a great motive.”
“He’s got powerful connections. He called the chief.”
“And what did the chief tell you?”
“Handle with care.”
“I have some news,” she said. “Crime scene found some hairs that didn’t belong to Gruber. And they have a partial shoeprint.”
After she hung up, he realized he was an hour late taking his Baclofen. He dry swallowed the white pill. Only the realization that he had missed the dose caused the right quads to get angry. He hadn’t felt any discomfort during his confrontation with Kenneth Buchanan.
Such a strange thing, this mind-body connection.
Wednesday
Chapter Fifteen
She left home and flew down Ravine Street, her favorite in the city. It inclined down the hill toward downtown at a steep angle, offering splendid views. Then she drove out Madison to the Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Rookwood Pavilion. It was this or spend the afternoon in her closet agonizing over what to wear tonight when she went out with Will Borders. A short skirt wouldn’t do, but neither would pants. Men liked her legs. But she didn’t want to come off wrong on a first date. It was a date, right? Cheryl Beth hadn’t been on a real date in a very long time. Maybe on the way home she would get a pedicure.
She was turning the corner of the poetry section when she almost ran straight on into Noah Smith.
“I’m sorry I gave you a start,” he said.
It was true. Her heart rate was still over one-fifty when she asked him what he was doing there.
“I was released this morning. Brooks sure didn’t like it.”
Noah looked gaunt and pale, but still handsome in khakis and a blue long-sleeved shirt. His big smile that must have attracted the girls was gone. “The truth is, I followed you.”
Pulse back up. “You what? You know where I live? How do you know where I live?”
“You can find things on the Internet.”
She took another step back. “Now you’re really creeping me out.”
“You don’t…” He stepped closer and this time she held her ground. “You can’t think I had anything to do with Lauren and Holly getting killed.”
“Keep your voice down.”