“I… I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” I frowned. “There must be a reason you’re jumping to that conclusion.”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “I… I just know in my gut it’s true.”
I felt awful looking at him, but I couldn’t just open a murder investigation into Kyle’s death for no reason. Pervis needed to give me something concrete to go on. “Was he having problems with anyone in particular?”
“He had enemies. Quinn, for one. You saw how he attacked my brother the other day.”
I frowned. “You think Quinn killed Kyle?”
He winced. “Obviously, I don’t know for sure, but he was very angry.”
“I agree, his temper was out of control that day. However, Quinn didn’t actually hurt Kyle. He was full of bluster, and he let it go too far, but killing someone in cold blood is a whole other thing, Pervis.”
“Maybe. He was scary, that’s for sure.”
“Yes.” I studied him. “You said Kyle had enemies, plural. Who else had a problem with him?”
“Well, some people didn’t want him running for sheriff.” He grimaced, looking up sheepishly. “You were nice about it, but not everyone was.”
“Who wasn’t nice about it?”
“Some of the townspeople laughed at him when he said he was gonna run. You saw how Liam James mocked him at the rally.”
Yeah, I’d definitely noticed how mean-spirited Liam had been. And not just toward Kyle either. He’d been a jerk to yours truly as well. “Oh, well, there are naysayers everywhere. You can’t let them get to you.”
“That’s what I told Kyle, but it bothered him.”
“You seriously think someone purposely hurt him?”
“Yes.” His eyes glittered with suspicion.
“Is there anything else you can give me that might support that idea?”
He hesitated. “He… he got a threatening call the other night.”
I’d been balancing on the back legs of my chair, and I bumped down abruptly. “Is that right?”
“Yep.”
“Man or a woman?”
“Man.”
“Did Kyle recognize the voice?” I leaned forward.
Pervis shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“What did they say to him?”
Pervis gnawed at his ragged cuticles. “He… he told Kyle to back off, or he’d be sorry.”
“Back off of what?”
“I assumed he meant running for sheriff.”
“You think someone threatened Kyle because of his campaign?” I frowned. “Do you know why they’d care if he ran for sheriff?” Especially since the odds of Kyle winning had been extremely slim.
