The 6:20 Man

“But then this hiccup you mentioned happened?”

“Cowl basically told the cops the system went down. There’s no evidence to give them. He made that happen.”

“Why would he do that?”

He reluctantly told her about the pictures and video he had taken of Cowl and Stamos after they’d had sex.

“So you basically blackmailed the guy into not throwing the cops enough dirt to arrest you?”

He looked at her with an air of desperation. “I know it doesn’t look good, but the evidence was made up. I didn’t do it. I had to fight fire with fire.”

“No, it doesn’t look good. But have you considered another possibility?”

“Like what?”

“That Cowl doctored the evidence to incriminate you.”

“But then why not use it?” Then it all hit Devine. “Of course. He basically told me why.”

“Right. You turned the tables on him with your dirt before he could pull the trigger and throw you to the cops, so he had to change plans and stonewall NYPD.”

“He bought a company recently that can manipulate any video. Before he knew about the dirt I had on him, he basically said he wanted to get the cops off his case by framing me.”

Surprisingly, Speers was shaking her head.

“What?” he said.

“Have you considered the possibility that there might be video and entry log evidence of Cowl being in the building when the woman was killed? If so, he would definitely take steps to erase it. Then he would have the video doctored, maybe using this company he bought, and there you would be instead.”

Devine looked both intrigued by and wary of this theory. “And his motive?”

“He might have been the father of her baby. And he might have known about her abortion and decided to use that against you, because he might have found out about you and Sara having had sex. Which means, if I’m right, that he could have ended up playing you and the cops.”

Devine once more slumped back on the bed. In a hollow tone he said, “Meaning I did a deal with him to avoid being charged with Sara’s death, even though I’m innocent? And in putting together that deal, he might have destroyed the real evidence of his guilt and just gotten away with her murder?”

“What a smart boy you are.”