Page 56 of Blood and Moonlight

“Which could only logically have been him,” Simon finishes. We turn to look at the commotion brewing on the street. It’s apparent what we’ve found, and the husband is wailing pitifully and making an effort to get to his wife, but Lambert has an iron grip on him. “Add that to all the circumstances, and no judge would find him innocent. He may have killed her in a fit of rage,or he may have planned it. Either way, he tried to take advantage of the other two murders.”

“But he didn’t know all the details,” Juliane says. “That’s why we didn’t correct rumors.” Simon nods.

One thing still baffles me, however. “How did you know she would behere?” I ask.

Simon shrugs as though I’d asked him why the sky is blue. “He couldn’t have taken her far without being noticed, and he wasn’t likely to have risked crossing the street. I wasn’t sure at first, but it was logical, and when I saw his face as I stopped, it was obvious.”

This man wanted it assumed she was the third victim, and everyone will want to believe it. “You know as soon as he’s arrested, he’ll also be blamed for Perrete and Ysabel,” I say. “He’d hang tomorrow if it weren’t Sun Day.”

“Yes.” Simon re-covers the woman’s body. “But that also means the real killer will probably feel safe staying here in Collis.”

He doesn’t say whether he considers that good or bad news.