Page 71
Story: Hide and Seek
Andy didn’t bother arguing. Maybe because there was a little bit of truth to that. Cutty had never discouraged Andy’s friendship with Quinn, but more than once he’d cautioned Andy not to ignore hisbetter instincts.
“Are you seriously suggesting Quinn attacked my uncle Friday night?”
Millard gave it a moment’s consideration. “Nah. I told you. That was kids getting out of hand.”
“And whoever tried to break in Saturday afternoon? Was that supposed to be Quinn?”
“Of course not. Those damned kids didn’t realize you were there.”
“And Saturday night?”
Millard frowned. “What about Saturday night?”
Ah. This was tricky. Andy had not reported the Saturday night attempt at a break-in because Marcus had scared off the burglar whenhebroke in. In fact, Andy had only Quinn’s word that there had been a third attempt. Telling Millard that Quinn had been lurking in the alley outside Time in a Bottle, waitingfor Marcus to show up, was not going to improve either Quinn’s position or his own.
He said instead, “The break-in at Miriam Labelle’s. You don’t think it’s connected?”
Millard said slowly, “Connected how?”
Once again, Andy felt a flicker of caution. “You don’t think a string of local burglaries might be connected?”
Millard gave a short laugh. “You’ll never convince me a bunch of juvenile delinquents attacked and murdered your boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend. And according to you, juvenile delinquents attacked and nearly killed my uncle, so why not Marcus?”
Millard was staring at Andy like Andy was the crazy one. “You’re trying to tell me those kids conveniently came back last night just to get rid of your boyfriend?”
“Why not? According to you, they’re running around the countryside, breaking into places left and right.”
“You’re going to have to come up with a better story than that.”
“A betterstory? How about proof of innocence? Have you checked the security cameras of the shops adjacent to Time in a Bottle?”
“We checked Saturday morning,” Millard said wearily. “None of those cameras are positioned to capture the front of Time in a Bottle. Or the alleyway.” Millard shook his head. “I told Cutty about a hundred times he should install a security system.”
“I’ll tell you where there are cameras to capture Quinn’s and my comings and goings. All the security cameras up and down Chestnut Street. All those expensive houses will have expensive security systems. Quinn’s got a security system himself. That’s going to show when we arrived and when we left and any comings and goings in between.”
As he said it, Andy realized that if Quinn had left the house during the night, Andy had just placed him in Millard’s crosshairs. But if Quinn had killed Marcus, Quinn was not who Andy believed he was. Andy wasn’t going to protect a murderer. Not even a murderer who maybe, misguidedly, thought he was doing Andy a favor.
Quinn had not killed Marcus. Andy was positive of that. He added, “That street’s a cul-de-sac. There’s only one way in and one way out. If Quinn left the house, it’s going to show up on someone’s camera. And if he didn’t—and Iknowhe didn’t—that’s his alibi.”
Millard looked surprised—had he really not considered the cameras on Chestnut Street?—and then wary.
“You sound pretty sure of that.”
“Iamsure.”
Millard’s face lightened. “But maybe he left on foot.”
“He’d still show up on camera. He’d show up on someone’s camera somewhere, including the shops along Main Street.”
“Maybe he avoided the cameras.”
“All the cameras?Allthe cameras in town? Really?”
Millard’s face tightened. He said nothing.
“Those cameras are his alibi andmyalibi. So unless you’re going to charge me—in which case I want to speak to my lawyer—I’m leaving.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117