Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,18

hot. The pounding heat gradually loosened her tense muscles. If only her brain were so easily soothed.

With all day to kill, Ari made plans to stay busy. Brierly, the little town where Rosalina lived, was only an hour away. Rather than brood, she decided to interview witnesses in Eddie’s case and visit the magic lab for Gillian’s report. Lewis Hampton, the first witness to reach the parking lot, was at the top of her list. After that, Lorraine’s mother, maybe, for a different perspective on the situation. And, time permitting, she looked forward to quizzing Harold Shale about the counseling sessions. There had to be a missing piece to this puzzle. Although Ryan or his officers would have talked with all the witnesses by now, maybe Ari would ask something different or hear a different answer. After all, she wasn’t looking for more evidence to prove Eddie guilty. Ryan had enough of that. She was looking for something that didn’t fit.

Lewis Hampton—pudgy, balding, and fidgety—waited for her beside Merchandise Mart’s customer service counter. They exchanged names, and Lew, as he introduced himself, led the way to a small office at the back of the store. When he’d turned away, Ari wrinkled her nose at the strong odor of his nervous sweat. What was making him so upset? His gait was awkward, his breathing labored. She hoped he wouldn’t have a seizure or heart attack during the interview.

“Is something wrong?” she finally asked.

“Only got 30 minutes,” he said, as he sat down, his trousers pulling tightly over his ample thighs. “We have quotas in Appliance. I could get fired if I don’t make my quota.” He craned his neck toward the front door as if he might be missing a potential customer. “The boss is covering for me. He doesn’t like to do that.”

“OK, we’ll keep it brief. Tell me what you witnessed Saturday night at the Woodland Inn.”

“The shooting, you mean. Well, I really didn’t see it happen. I was inside having a beer with my friend Marty, and we heard the shots.”

“How many shots?”

“Three or four. Don’t remember exactly. Anyway, I stuck my head out the door to see what was happening. It was already over.” Hampton ran his finger around the collar of his shirt and tugged, as if it was hard to breathe.

Ari started wondering where the store’s defibrillator was. What would Hampton be like if he was the one in trouble? She wanted to get this interview over for both of them. “What did you see?” she prompted.

“That vampire, Lorraine West’s boyfriend, was on the ground. Blood on his head. And her brother Eddie was there. The officer told me the vamp was dead. I mean, really dead. I didn’t know they could be killed.”

Ari didn’t say anything. It was a normal misconception. In fact, there were three or four ways even humans could kill a vampire. Silver bullets was one. She didn’t enlighten him on the rest; the last thing she needed was citizens carrying stakes, flamethrowers, or swords to behead vampires. Even after the treaties, too many humans struggled with the concept of vampires-as-equals.

“Did you see a gun? Or any other weapon?”

“No. Funny, isn’t it? The cop asked me the same thing. Where’d it go?”

“You tell me. Did you see anyone else outside?”

“No, just Eddie. Maybe someone was hiding or escaped.”

“Is that possible? How long did you wait before looking outside? Seconds or minutes?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Seconds.” He wiped his forehead with one hand. “I was right next to the door. Oh, I see what you’re getting at. Should have seen somebody running away.”

If the killer or accomplice was human, yes. Ari considered whether someone could have blended with the crowd and slipped away during the excitement. But she didn’t think that was the answer. Bar customers were a tight bunch; they would have noticed a stranger. Certainly one with a gun.

“When you first saw Eddie, what was he doing?”

“Nothing. I guess he was looking at the body. I yelled at him, asked what happened, but he didn’t seem to hear me. I don’t think he talked to anyone. Not ‘til the cops came.”

“And, what did he tell them?”

“Couldn’t hear. Too noisy. And the cop pulled him off to the side.”

So the alleged confession couldn’t be corroborated by this witness and probably not by anyone else in the crowd. Maybe defense counsel could make something of that. Ari didn’t believe the officer had lied, but the defense lawyer could always raise the issue.

Hampton glanced