But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

Ty was wearing when he died.” I began drumming my fingers on the desk. “How is that possible, Nikia? How were you able to describe the exact articles of clothing that my murder victim was wearing when he died?”

Every bit of color drained from Nikia’s face.

“I…I don’t know. I really saw someone walking down my street, and that’s what he was wearing.” He licked his lips again. “I thought it was Ty. I don’t know now. I’m not positive anymore. You’re confusing me. Maybe it was him.”

I raised both hands in the surrender position. “I’m only asking simple questions. The truth isn’t confusing.”

He glanced at the door. At that moment, I knew he’d give anything to be anywhere else but in that room with Susan and me. This man was definitely holding a secret, and I was going to get it out of him.

“Let’s stop talking about Ty for a moment,” I said, wanting to give him a chance to relax. “Tell me what you did Saturday night—before you saw this man that walked past your house.”

“Oh, I was at home.” He shrugged. “I was watching TV like I do every night.”

“What did you watch?”

“Huh?”

I repeated the question.

“Um, let’s see…I think I just watched the news that night. I was tired, so I went to bed early.”

“If you went to bed early, then how’d you come to be outside at two in the morning?”

“I woke up because I needed a smoke.” He rubbed his fingers together. “I sure could use a cigarette now.”

“Sorry, but no one here smokes.” I tapped my notepad, trying to decide where I would go next. “Did you leave your house at all Saturday night or Sunday morning?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” I prodded.

“I’m positive,” he said with his mouth, but his body language told me otherwise.

I flipped through my notes, deciding to bluff him. I stopped when I reached a blank page. He couldn’t see that it was blank. I stabbed at it with a finger. “So, if I was to tell you that I spoke to some of your neighbors and they saw you leave your house,” I began, “would you say they were lying?”

“I…I, um, I don’t think I left my house at all that night.” He lifted a finger. “Wait a minute…I might’ve walked across the bridge and to the store for a pack of cigarettes.”

“At what time?” I asked as I squinted, pretending to check my notes.

“I…I don’t remember.”

“And you say you walked from your house?”

He nodded.

“What store did you go to?”

“The one on the corner.”

“Which corner?” I asked. “I’ll need to know precisely which one it was so I can contact the clerk who was working Saturday night. You know, for the sake of thoroughness.”

He was fidgeting like there were fire ants in his pants. He opened his mouth to speak, but then clamped it shut and shook his head. I was about to ask another question when my cell phone rang. I didn’t like being interrupted during interviews, but I figured it had to be related to the case, so I glanced at the screen. It was Tracy Dinger.

Giving Susan a nod to take over the questioning of Nikia, I hurried out of the interview room and slipped into the dispatcher’s station. I quickly tapped Tracy’s name in my contacts folder and waited. I didn’t have to wait long. She answered on the first ring.

“I’ve got something for you,” she said excitedly. “My people have been working this case around the clock and they were able to pull some DNA from the extension cord. They located three profiles from the extension cord. They matched one to Ty Richardson, they got a CODIS hit on one of the others, and the third is unidentified. Also, the palm prints you sent from the hood of that car matched up to Ty Richardson’s prints. Several of the others were unidentified, but we did get an AFIS hit on one from the passenger’s door handle. And guess what?”

“What?”

“The CODIS hit and the AFIS hit came back to the same person,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve never had this happen on a case before.”

“Well, who is it?” I asked, unable to contain my excitement any longer.

When she told me the name, I dropped into a chair next to Lindsey. “No way!”

“Yes way!”

  CHAPTER 48

Thirty minutes earlier…

After eating lunch with Baylor, Lindsey, Susan and Clint, Amy said goodbye to Baylor when he announced he had to get back on patrol. She then made her way slowly to her office. Her left leg still hurt like hell when she put even the slightest amount of weight on it, but she could feel it growing stronger with each passing hour.

She sat in her chair and began diving deeper into the social media accounts of Betty Watts, Phoebe Watts, Nikia Billiot, and Logan Pitre. She also went back over J-Rock’s various social media pages, as well as those of Neal Barlow. She didn’t have much luck. It seemed she had uncovered about all she was going to find.

With a sigh, she stood slowly and carefully to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. Once she was done, she returned to her office and stared out of her window, which faced Washington Avenue to the south. It had grown cooler outside and some of her older and more familiar injuries began to ache. The cold weather did that to her.

People were strolling up and down the street. Many of them wore Mardi Gras beads around their necks and nearly everyone she saw was dressed in purple and green. Movement from below drew her eyes in that direction and she watched as a young couple stopped to take a picture of themselves in front of the police department. The guy held up a