“We have plenty of time these days.”
8.
Things thawed considerably over the next hour as Bruce, Bob, and Nick were escorted to a conference room and served coffee and doughnuts. As they waited, Bob griped at Bruce for being so gung ho.
“You could’ve at least asked me if I wanted to chat with the cops,” he growled.
“Oh, you’re talking to the cops, Bob, now knock it off. You’re a key witness whether you like it or not.”
Nick snorted and chimed in, “You knew the killer and had been sleeping with her for days before the murder. You’ll be the first witness called at trial.”
“What do you know about trials?”
“Tons. They’re in all the crime novels.”
“Well, I’ve sat through one, okay, and I’ve heard the jury say ‘guilty as charged,’ so I’m not afraid of the courtroom.”
“You did nothing wrong, Bob, relax,” Bruce said. “Don’t you want to find the killer?”
“I don’t know, maybe not. If she’s a professional, then some very nasty people paid her. Maybe we should leave them alone.”
“Not going to happen,” Bruce said. “You’re in up to your ears.”
“Thanks for nothing.”
The door eventually opened and an officer in a suit strutted in. He introduced himself as Captain Butler, and passed around business cards. WESLEY BUTLER, FLORIDA STATE POLICE. He found the coffee and joined them at the table. Without removing a pen he asked, “Now who’s who? Who have we got here?”
“I’m Bruce Cable, friend of Nelson Kerr. Same for Bob Cobb, who’s a writer on the island.”
“And I’m Nick Sutton, senior at Wake Forest, summer flunky at the bookstore. Also a friend of Nelson’s.”
“Okay. I just saw the autopsy report. Looks like your friend got banged up pretty good. I’ve talked to the police chief on the island and he’s described the evidence at the crime scene. We’ll get there as soon as we can, hopefully in the morning. I understand it’s pretty crazy down there.”
All three nodded.
“But the crime scene is intact, as far as you know?”
“As far as we know,” Bruce said. “There is no one around. In the spirit of full disclosure, the three of us have been in the apartment more than once. Nick here noticed the stains on the wall and in the downstairs bathroom. I walked around upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Well, at first we were looking for Nelson’s dog. Didn’t find him. We were not suspicious until Nick saw the stains.”
Bob said, “Then Nick noticed more than one head wound and we became suspicious.”
Bruce said, “And just so you’ll know, we borrowed his car two days ago to return to my home, and we cleaned out his refrigerator and liquor cabinet. Didn’t think he would mind.”
“A bunch of looters,” Butler said with a grin.
“Book us. We’re guilty. But rules change after a storm when you’re worried about survival.”
“Okay. You think your prints are in the house?”
“I’m sure they are.”
Nick said, “We thought about wiping things down but didn’t want to wipe off too much.”
“Good move. Not sure I’ve ever investigated a murder in the middle of a hurricane.”
“It’s my first and last,” Bruce said.
Butler sipped some coffee and said, “Now, the Director says there’s more to the story.”
“It’s likely,” Bruce said.
“Okay, let’s just have a chat without recording anything. We can do that later. I’m fresh on the case and know nothing. Tell me what happened.”
Bruce and Nick looked at Bob, who cleared his throat and began, “Well, there was this woman, said her name was Ingrid.”
9.
Halfway through Bob’s narrative, Butler began taking notes. The story was too rich not to. He never interrupted, but was obviously intrigued by the details. When Bob finished, Butler asked, “And