Page 25 of A Dead End Fourth of July (Tiger’s Eye Mysteries #14)
Tess
It was Murder on the Orient Express in the Dead End jail.
After Susan interviewed Katie, she lined up the three suspects in chairs against the wall of the conference room.
Naturally, Bubba tried to flirt with Katie.
"Maybe he'll ask her to hold his snake," Jack murmured, and I elbowed him in the stomach, getting a bit of petty satisfaction when I heard him grunt.
"Okay. One of you killed him, and I'm going to find out who. Why don't you save us all some time and confess?" Susan demanded, leaning back against the wall.
I'd never seen this tactic work in mystery novels or TV shows, but there was always a first time.
"I didn't kill him," Bubba said hotly. "I've told you and told you. I hit him, sure. He was a bad guy. He ran off with Cousin July when she was only seventeen! And then he knocked her up and broke her heart."
"Sounds like him," Katie muttered. "At least I was smart enough not to get knocked up."
When Bubba glared at her, she held up her hand. "Peace. I'm not belittling your cousin. I wasn't seventeen, but I was plenty foolish at twenty-one."
Skeeter, who'd been mumbling beneath his breath since we got here, and was probably hoarse from shouting all night, suddenly jumped up so fast he knocked his chair over.
"You can't hold me here! I have rights! I was at the Rat all night.
Nowhere near Cletus McKee and his pathetic excuse for a fireworks show. "
"Sit down," Susan roared.
Skeeter flinched, picked up his chair, and sat back down.
"How did you know it was pathetic?" I asked.
"What?" He glared at me but didn't stand again.
"You said, 'His pathetic excuse for a fireworks show.' How did you know it was pathetic if you were in the Rat all night?"
"Everybody knew it was going to be pathetic. You can't trust a McKee to do anything right," he sneered.
Bubba stood and cocked his fists. "You take that back."
And they were off. The two men shouted at each other, Katie started babbling, and then Susan yanked her hair with both hands and groaned with frustration.
"Jack. Do something," I said.
Jack took a step toward the table.
Just one step.
And suddenly there was quiet. Katie stopped talking, Bubba sat back down, and Skeeter shut up, too.
Tigers were awesome in dicey situations, even in human shape.
Andy walked into the room, whispered something in Susan's ear, and then walked out.
Susan's smile was terrible and terrifying.
She might be spending too much time with Jack.
"We found the murder weapon, and we're checking it for prints and DNA today," she said. "If you confess now, I'll take that into consideration when we talk to the judge. But if you make me drag this out, I'm pushing for the maximum sentence. You'll be in jail for the rest of your life."
I didn't think we could get DNA results that fast, but if Susan was bluffing, she was great at it.
"It's not me," Katie said again.
"But you were kneeling down next to his body," Bubba said, the realization dawning in his eyes. "That was you! You killed him."
"I did not." She repeated what she'd told us.
Cheater, Heartbreaker, Thief.
Witch, Crystal, Diamond.
I had to admit I was starting to believe her.
"Did you get the camera footage from the Rat?" Jack asked.
Susan and I both snorted.
"The Rat doesn’t do cameras," I told him. "Most of their clientele would quit coming if their dirty deeds were going to be caught on film."
Skeeter grinned at me. "You're not wrong. But you can interview everybody there, and they'll tell you I was there all night."
He sat back in his chair, looking smug, and crossed his arms over his belly. His silver ring flashed in the light and reminded me of something.
More than that, it gave me an idea.
"I'll be right back," I said abruptly, and I walked as fast as I could out of the building.
Because I'd remembered two things:
First, in my vision of Cletus's death, the killer had worn something metallic on his hand. Like a ring.
Like the ring Skeeter was wearing now and had worn when he got into that fight in the diner.
Second, and maybe vastly more important:
The truth-telling brooch was still in my car.