That explained where the fingerprint bruising came from. “What happened next?”
“I started fighting back, but I was still drunk, half awake, and sloppy. The guy got in two or three punches to my gut which knocked the wind out of me. I fell to the floor and he leaned down close to my face. He whispered, ‘Night, night, asshole.’ He wrapped a hand around my neck and started to squeeze. I’ve never been so scared in my life. My heart was pounding and I struggled to breathe. My chest burned. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. The next thing I knew, I was standing beside my body.”
Stepping into the hallway, Ten filled Ronan in on the details of his conversation with Jefferson McGrath.
“Can you ask Mr. McGrath if I can ask him some questions about his murder?” Ronan had his notepad in hand and was scribbling notes.
McGrath nodded. “There’s nothing he can do to hurt me now.”
“You can come in, Ronan.” Ten waved him forward.
“My name is Ronan O’Mara and I’m a member of the cold case team. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. Do you know who did this to you?”
“No, it was dark and I was focused on defending myself.”
Tennyson relayed McGrath’s answer.
“Go through your other four senses. Is there anything you remember tasting, smelling, touching or hearing? The tiniest bit of information can be a huge help in solving your murder.”
“I smelled cologne. I don’t know what kind. When I tried to shove the man away from me, I touched his hair. It was silky.”
“He could smell cologne and the man’s hair was silky.” Tennyson’s heart froze. He had always loved Cisco’s hair. It was straight and always looked so soft, unlike his own crazy curls that turned frizzy in the summer. Had Cisco actually killed this man?
“Oh and there’s one last thing, before I blacked out for good, I felt a sharp pinch.”
“Ronan, he felt a sharp pinch.” Ten turned back to McGrath.
“Where?” Ronan asked.
“In my stomach. The man climbed off me after that and left the cell, locking it behind him.”
“Detective O’Mara?” Tim called from down the hall. “Are you still here?”
McGrath materialized in front of Ronan. “I’m counting on you to solve my murder. So are the others.” The spirit vanished from sight.
Ronan strode into the cell and shook his hands through Ten’s hair before doing the same to his own. “We’ll talk about this later. Let’s get out of here.”
Slapping a dopey look on his face, Ten grabbed Ronan’s hand and walked out of the cell block toward Brad, who looked as if he were expecting a blow-by-blow of their sexy time in the jail.
“Night, Tim!” Ronan puffed his chest out, once again fist bumping the jailer.
Ten did his best to look demure and embarrassed, when all he wanted to do was talk to Ronan about McGrath’s last line about their being others. Others who were killed in the jail? Others who were killed by cops? Both?
With his head spinning, Ten followed along behind Ronan as he ducked into the file room and grabbed an empty box. They strode back through the lobby looking as if they’d gotten what they’d come for.
One thing was for certain. There was no way Ronan, Fitz, or Jude could doubt that a murder took place in the Salem Jail. The only question was, if the killer was one of their own.
7
Ronan
Ronan felt like he was going to throw up. He’d scheduled a meeting with Fitz and Jude to talk about what happened the night before in the Salem Jail. Neither of his partners knewabout his and Ten’s nocturnal visit to the precinct. He didn’t like keeping things from them. Worse, he didn’t like the idea that a member of the Salem Police Department could be a killer. Worse than that, one of the top suspects was his friend, and boss, Cisco Jackson.
Tennyson looked as worried as Ronan felt. He sat in his usual seat, an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. They’d both been too wired from the jailhouse visit to get much sleep. Now, Ronan’s only hope of getting through the day would be a metric ton of coffee and for his partners to listen to what he had to say, rather than punching him in his stupid face. It could go either way.
“Ronan, what’s up?” Fitz asked, as he walked into the conference room. Jude trailed behind him. Both men had coffee cups in their hands. “I thought we were getting together this afternoon to talk about the new case I assigned you.”
“Something else has come up that Ten and I need to talk to you about.”
