Page 44 of So Wicked

“I’m clean, man!” Alex cried. “I swear to God!”

“The anthem of dirty people everywhere,” the detective replied drily. “Come on. Let’s go have a nice talk.”

Faith hauled Alex to his feet and opened the back door. The other people in the store were too shocked to do anything but stare as the four of them left.

“Man, you guys are trippin’” Alex complained. “I’m clean, bro, I promise.”

“Doubt it,” Faith said, “but that’s not what we’re here for.”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “What? You’re not shaking me down?”

“Not for drugs.”

She led them to a stone retaining wall at the back of the strip mall and made Alex sit on the wall.

“Okay, Alex,” Slade said. “Let’s make this short and sweet. You were seen on camera at Deer Ridge Pet Cemetery on the night of Dr. Lisa Patel’s murder.”

“Who?”

“Dr. Lisa Patel. She was killed by a pentobarbital injection and posed in a ring of stones in the cemetery.”

“What? What the hell?”

“Yeah, that’s what we said,” Slade agreed. “Pretty messed up stuff. You want to tell us about it?”

“I didn’t see anything, man. Come on, I was just walking home.”

“That’s a pretty long walk from here,” Faith said. “What is that, eleven miles?”

“I didn’t walk from here. I walked from my night job.”

“Your night job?”

“Yeah. I work at a liquor store on one-thirty-first street.”

“What time did you work Tuesday night?”

“I work seven to eleven every night. It’s only a two-mile walk back home if I cut through the cemetery, so I leave my car at home to save on gas.”

“You walk for forty-five minutes in the cold every night to save two dollars in gas?” Slade challenged.

“Hey, you want to pay my bills for me?” Alex retorted. “Go ahead. Otherwise, I need to save every bit I can.”

“Yeah, those fines and restitutions must be tough,” Slade replied. “How much do you owe for your theft conviction?”

“Like four k still.”

“Ouch. Looks like crime doesn’t pay.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thanks for the lecture, dude. Super helpful.”

“Well, I’ll bet my badge you have drugs on you now, so if getting a lecture doesn’t help, how about I search you.”

Alex blanched. “Come on, man, I wasn’t doing anything.”

“What were you doing on Tuesday night?” Faith asked.

“Walking home! I told you.”