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The reporter persisted. “Does that mean you have?”
Tate smiled. “Just because you don’t like the answer, it doesn’t mean you’ll get a different answer if you ask the question again.”
Again laughter rippled through the crowd.
Hershel was furious. Instead of focusing on him and his skill, Benton had them laughing like he was a stand-up comedian. This wasn’t a laughing matter, damn it! He would give them something to laugh about.
All of a sudden there was a commotion at the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to look as another news crew pulled up. A reporter got out on the run, pushing his way through the crowd until he was all the way up front.
“We’ve just learned from a reliable source that you have a witness to several of the most recent murders. Who is it? Is it a local? Can you give us a name?”
Tate didn’t blink. He had only seconds for damage control. If they knew this much, it wouldn’t be long before Nola’s name leaked, too.
Hershel was in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing! They were wrong. There was no way they had a witness. Every one of his kills had been out in the flood zone, and he’d killed everyone in sight.
“That’s certainly very interesting. What’s your name?” Tate asked.
“I’m Jason Arnold, Channel 12 News. What do you have to say in light of this new information?”
Tate smiled. “That I miss days when the media had to verify facts before they said anything to the public,” Tate drawled.
More laughter rolled out from the crowd. Hershel’s fingers curled into fists.
“I repeat, what do you have to say to this?” Arnold asked
“That you don’t have your story straight,” Tate said.
“So you’re saying there was no witness?”
“There is no one—let me stress that again, no one—who saw the killer’s face. There is no one who can identify him.”
“What about the woman the National Guard pulled out of a tree near where three victims were killed?”
Tate swallowed the bile that surged up his throat.
Damn it to hell.
Tate kept his expression emotionless. “Are you talking about the woman who was sick when she crawled up a tree, tied herself to the trunk and passed out?”
Arnold frowned. “I guess.”
“Well, that would be the same woman who was still out of her head after they brought her in, talking about everything from aliens to aardvarks, so there is no witness to aid us in any way. Let’s hope you haven’t already filed that report with your news desk, or you’re going to have egg on your face.”
This time Hershel laughed along with everyone else, but he was laughing out of sheer relief.
The news conference died a natural death after the air went out of Jason Arnold’s bombshell. The moment things were over, Tate and Cameron went back inside to find Wade at his laptop running names through a database.
“Did you get any names from the trailer park?” Tate asked.
Wade nodded. “About ten.”
Tate frowned. “That many?”
Wade nodded. “Beaudry also ran down the owner of that boat the killer was in. He’s a local. He said the boat came loose from his dock when the river flooded and he assumed it was lost, so that lead didn’t go anywhere.”
Once again what had seemed like a quick fix was turning into another muddle. Tate was frustrated, not to mention worried about Nola.
“I’m going back to the gym. Nola has to be warned about what’s happening. If her name comes up, those parasites will come looking for her.”