Xo (Kathryn Dance 3)

And in the interrogation room, the one-on-one continued. Madigan was probably brilliant at getting confessions from the typical perp you saw in the Central Valley. But Edwin Sharp was not a typical perp.

Well, under Giles versus Lohan...

The stalker listened patiently, analytically as Madigan said, "And we've just been through your house, Edwin. We found a lot of interesting things, including latex gloves, the same sort that were used in the murder. And trace evidence."

Edwin said calmly, "I see. My house, hm? Did you get a warrant?"

"We didn't need one. My deputy noticed some things in plain sight."

"Even from the sidewalk?" the stalker asked. "Tough to see anything inside unless you entered on the property. Well, I don't really think you had the right to take anything. I want it returned."

Dance turned to Harutyun. "Did he get a warrant?"

"No, after we saw things were missing from Bobby's, the Chief sent a deputy over there--Miguel Lopez--and he saw things from the trailer through Edwin's window, in plain sight.... What's the matter?"

Dance didn't reply.

Inside the interrogation room Edwin was saying, "Well, I haven't been in Bobby's trailer, so ..."

"Oh, how did you know it was a trailer?" Madigan demanded triumphantly.

"That's right, you called it a 'house' earlier. I thought that was odd. I know where he lived because of Kayleigh's song two years ago. 'Bobby's Double-Wide.' All about the history of country music. Sort of like Don McLean's 'American Pie.' Surprised you don't know it. Being all gung-ho for Kayleigh, I mean."

Madigan's smile deflated and he seemed to be wrestling down his anger. "Just confess, Edwin. You want to, I know you do."

A textbook line from blunt-force interrogation. This is the moment when the perp might start to cry and, indeed, confess.

But Edwin said, "Can I collect my things now? Where are they? In the Crime Scene Unit? That's in the building south of here, right?"

The detective blinked. Then he said, "Look, let's be realistic here. Work with me. I'll talk to the prosecutor. I'm sure he'll cut a deal. Maybe you were arguing with Bobby. You know, that chest bumping that started at the Cowboy Saloon that afternoon? It escalated. These things happen. We could be talking reduced counts. And maybe he'll cut out the stalking charge altogether."

"Stalking?" Edwin seemed perplexed. "I'm not a stalker. Kayleigh's a friend. I know it and she knows it."

"Friend? That's not the story according to her lawyers."

"Oh, she's afraid of them. They're controlled by her father. They've all been telling her lies about me."

"That's not the way it is," Madigan said. "You're in town to stalk her. And you killed her friend because he threw you out of the Cowboy Saloon yesterday."

Edwin remained completely placid. "No, Detective. I came to Fresno to get out of the Seattle rain for a time, to come to a public concert ... and to pay respect to a performer I like, a woman who's been nice and frankly shown some interest in me. One of the best musicians of our era, by the way. You accuse me of stalking but I'm sorry, I'm the victim here. You never did anything about my call."

Madigan's face revealed confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I thought that was why your deputy Fuentes asked me here. My complaint."

"Complaint?"

"You don't know? I have to say that doesn't surprise me. Saturday night, I called nine-one-one and reported a Peeping Tom, a trespasser, behind my house. But nobody did anything about it. You've got, what? Twelve hundred deputies? I just needed one to come out and see where this guy was standing, talk to the neighbors. But did they? No. Not for an out-of-towner."

With a grim laugh, Madigan responded, "We have four hundred deputies in Fresno and sixty in Madera. They cover over six thousand square miles of territory from the Valley all the way up to the mountains. I'm afraid a Peeping Tom, if there really was one, isn't going to be all-hands-on-deck."

Dance noted that if the stalker was on a fishing expedition to get information about the limitations of the sheriff's office, he'd certainly succeeded.

Edwin kept up the offensive, easy as a June day. "Your hometown girl is, quote, 'stalked' and you think it's the end of the world. I'm a newcomer and nobody cares that somebody's casing out my house. If Bobby Prescott was murdered and witnesses place me at his house, or trailer, then I'm being set up. Somebody had another reason to kill him and they're us

ing me as a fall guy. You really have to understand, Detective, I love her. I'd never hurt anybody close to her."

"You don't love her, Edwin. You're obsessed with a celebrity who doesn't know you from Adam."