“Then,talk to me,” I told him, walking to stand beside him. “Tell me what happenedthat night.”
Jameslooked at me, suddenly appearing younger than he was, with green eyesglittering in pools of crystal tears, and then, he nodded.
***
Theowner of Shavon’s allowed us to use the office for questioning, and as I sat acrossfrom James, I knew without a doubt that he was innocent. His eyes held all thetruth I needed, but I also had to hear his side of the story.
“Iwassittin’ in my brother’s pub that night,” hebegan, keeping his gaze on the floor. “It was aborin’night, real quiet, and I startedthinkin’ I shouldjust go home. But then, I looked out the window and saw her.”
Heturned to me with a heartbreaking grin and asked, “Ye ever seen a lass sobonnie, she takes the words rightouttaeyerstupid mouth?”
Itwas unintentional, the way my eyes dodged momentarily toward Rosie, and Imuttered, “Aye.”
Hesighed, dropping his gaze once again. “I was worried shewouldnaestopwalkin’ by, but she did. I convinced her to comeinside, and we had a dram or two, not enough to get wrecked but enough to feelit. She keptmentionin’ she needed to get back to theinn she wasstayin’ at, because she had an earlyflight, but I keptstallin’. Ididnaewant her to leave. She was so …” His face took on a whimsical expression thatnearly fractured my heart, as he said, “She was sodifferent. I’d neverspoken to a woman like her before. So, I asked her to come back to my house.Shewasnaesure, but she suggested that we go for awalk, and since Iwouldaedoneanythin’to spend more time with her, I went.”
Inodded, hoping something helpful would come of the man’s longwinded story. “Didye end up together that night?”
Heshook his head, tucking his chin under as he sighed. “She gave me her number, Igave her mine, and she promised to call as soon as she got back home. We onlyspent a couple of hours together, but I already knew Iwouldaeloved her.”
Rosiehad kept her calm the whole time but as the man’s face fell once again, shereleased a loud sniffle, then apologized as she hurried from the room. I wantedto rush after her, to console her in any way I could, but I wasn’t done withJames.
“Doye ken what happened to her that night?”
Heshook his head. “After I left her at the inn, I went back to Roland’s pub. Thatwas it.”
Narrowingmy eyes, as the wheels in my brain turned, I asked, “And ye saw her go inside?”
Jamesnodded confidently. “Aye. I made sure of it.”
Slumpingback in the chair and tipping my head to stare at the ceiling, I resignedmyself to the fact that this man was very unlikely the killer I was searchingfor. The case had seemed so obvious for a moment, but now, it felt even morelike a mystery than before.
“Thankye foryercooperation, lad,” I finally said, lookingback to him with an appreciative smile. “And I’m sorry about … all of this.”
Jamesnodded somberly and asked, “Do ye need me foranythin’else or …”
Shakingmy head, I replied, “Notat the moment, but expect tohear from me within the next day or two. And don’t run away next time.”
Heoffered an apologetic smile as he stood, then left the room. I watched himleave, looking for any shred of evidence that might point me again in hisdirection. But he didn’t hurry. He didn’t rush out of the room like a bat outof hell. He moved slowly, hanging hisheadandgripping the back of his neck. He was upset, maybe even heartbroken, and Icouldn’t imagine him being that skilled of an actor.
AfterJames had left, Rosie came back into the room and closed the door behind her.
“Hedidn’t do it,” she stated, and I shook my head and replied, “No, he didn’t.”
Shewas disappointed for a moment, and her face fell with her sagging shoulders.But then, she slowly nodded and said, “I’m glad he didn’t. He was nice. And Ican totally see why Gracie liked him.” She smiled and turned to me, as shecontinued, “She had such a thing for green eyes. I remember when she first metMatt, it bothered her so much that he didn’t have green eyes, and I thought shewas just being ridiculously picky. Like, her standards were way too high.”
Ishrugged, running my fingers along the beaten edge of the old desk. “Sometimes,our intuition comes through in odd ways,” I said. “It disguises itself assomethin’ trivial, like the color of a man’s eyes or theannoyin’ way a lass sips her drink, when really, that’s ourguttellin’ us to run far, far away.”
“Youdidn’t like the way your ex-wife sipped her drink?”
Ismirked at her and shook my head. “God, no. She had to do it loudly, like shewasputtin’ on a performance everyone was supposed tosee, and then, she’d always smack her lips afterwards.” I acted it all out,smacking my lips loudly, then chuckled, scrubbing my palms against my face.“Mostinfuriatin’ thing.”
Then,I clapped my hand against the desk, quickly changing the subject. “So, we needto head back to The Lazy Crow and make sure that James istellin’the truth. We’ll see if they have security cameras—”
“Youdon’t think Roland would try to cover for his brother and delete the tapes?”
Ishook my head. “I doubt it. And in theeventtheydon’t have video surveillance, hopefully TheWhisperin’Crow does.”
Withthat said, I narrowed my eyes, staring ahead at a picture of the restaurantowner’s dog. My hand went to my chin, rubbing and tugging, and Rosie asked,“What is it?”
