Promises in the Dark (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Kane noticed a bead of sweat trickle down the man’s forehead. “Just outside the door.”

“Okay, did you notice any of your neighbors watching the blaze or anyone coming through the fields?” Carter lifted his chin. “Anything at all you can remember will help. Did you see a girl?”

“No, I don’t remember seeing a girl. There were other vehicles pulling up to look but it was dark.” Cleaves scrubbed both hands down his face and lifted his gaze to Carter. “Is that all?”

“Just a few more questions.” Carter stood and waved a hand to the hallway. “Do you have explosives in the house?”

“Explosives?” Cleaves shot to his feet. “No!”

“Then why is my dog sitting outside your hall closet?” Carter folded his notebook and pushed the pen into his pocket. “He’s trained to sniff out explosives and he’s never wrong. How about you open that closet door and give me a look see? It will save us getting a search warrant and as a man with priors concerning C-4, we’d get one within the hour, maybe less.”

“Okay, okay.” Cleaves walked into the hallway and stopped dead when Zorro lifted his lips to expose his canines. “That dog’s dangerous.”

“He sure is.” Carter flicked his fingers and Zorro dropped to his haunches. “What do you have inside?”

“A little C-4.” Cleaves looked chagrined. “It was left behind when the sheriff raided the place and charged me with stealing. That was five years ago.”

“If you open the door, I’ll take a look.” Carter stood back and waited for Cleaves to open the closet door and flick on a light. “I’ll send Zorro in to check it out.”

When the dog barked, Carter went inside. Kane turned to Cleaves. “Where have you been to get mud on your boots?”

“I… um, I think that was at the fire.” Cleaves frowned as if stalling. “I went to take a pee in the bushes. It was muddy there if I recall.”

Kane nodded. “Mind if I take a sample?”

“I guess.” Cleaves flicked his gaze to the closet and shuffled his feet.

Kane pulled out his notebook and made a note of Cleaves’ agreement to the

sample and search of his closet. “Print and then sign your name and add the date, just for the record.” He handed him the notebook and pen.

“Then will you leave?” Cleaves signed his name and thrust the articles back at him.

Kane smiled. “Sure thing, Mr. Cleaves; we’ll be out of here before you know it.” He waited a beat wondering if he was looking at the man who’d murdered Annie. The notes said he’d lived in Louan for a time but as it was his grandmother’s house, maybe he’d moved around some during a vacation. “We’re almost through now, Mr. Cleaves, just a few more questions. When were you in DC last?”

“DC?” Cleaves looked taken aback. “My old girlfriend worked there for a few years and I visited her. Why?”

The hair on the back of Kane’s neck prickled but he kept his expression passive. “It came up in a report is all. Can you be more specific?”

“She moved back last year, so from about five years ago I visited her during my vacations in June most times and any time I could get there. We’ve broken up now so all that traveling was a waste of time.” Cleaves rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor. “I’m not sure why all this has to do with the video I took of an explosion.”

Kane gripped his pen so tight he could feel it crunch under his fingers. “I’m tying up loose ends is all.”

He forced himself into a state of calm but Annie’s face danced across his mind. His instinct to shake the truth out of the man slid away as he took control over his emotions. Nothing would be gained by aggression and might only trigger another episode of killing in an already unstable man. He dragged in a deep breath of the rancid-smelling air and let it out slowly through his nose. “Oh, and another thing. How well did you know the Wood family?”

“He was okay but his wife liked to cause trouble.” Cleaves eyes flashed with anger.

Kane kept his face neutral. “How so?”

“Aw, I was just being friendly.” Cleaves snorted. “I was chatting to their daughter, Sophie, in the local store and her ma became riled up, saying her daughter wasn’t available to anyone in our church.”

“That was a strange thing to say.” Kane shook his head. “And how did that make you feel?”

“Angry.” Cleaves shook his head. “Now look at her, she’s dead and someone has one of her daughters.”

Puzzled by the man’s reply, Kane made a few notes.

When Carter came out the closet with an evidence bag and held up a small amount of C-4, Kane turned back to Cleaves. “As the explosives are part of a previous investigation, we’re confiscating it as evidence. We won’t be charging you.” He added a note about the explosives to the statement and handed it over to Cleaves. “Sign where I’ve added the explosives and we’ll be on our way.”