Page 62 of Always Murder

Something that would make me feel better about my own little internal tantrum.

They’d arrested Elliott for the thefts.That was great.That was fantastic.I mean, that was what I wanted, right?Iwantedthe sheriff and her deputies to be responsible for law and order.Iwantedthem to be the ones who tracked down all the thieves and murderers and, uh, stagecoach bandits.I didn’twantto have to solve every crime in Hastings Rock myself.I didn’t have time, anyway.I was too busy writing my book.

But Elliott?Honestly?

I mean, okay, yes, I might be biased by the tiny fact that I found him unbearable.And yes, I’d spotted a number of weird things—red flags like the fact that he and Angeline had met when he’d “helped” her with her ATM card, and then mysteriously, her account got hacked.And that wasn’t including the points Millie had made: that he’d cheated during a family game night, and how the details about his luxury apartment seemed to change.Not to mention the fact that the whole business about his “investment tips” for Millie’s dad had stunk to high heaven.And it would have been easy for Elliott to learn about Paul’s live streams.

So, I could see why the sheriff might suspect him.

There was also the slightly inconvenient fact that the deputies had found a Santa suit in his trunk along with several stolen packages.

Okay, so Elliott had done it.Elliott was the thief.Fine.I wasn’t entirely sure of the sequence of events—I suspected there’d been some sort of long con happening, with Elliott trying to get money out of Angeline and her parents, and the package thefts had been an opportunity that fell into Elliott’s lap.

But was I supposed to believe that Elliott had also attacked Paul?That he’d tried to beat him to death?

Before I could think about what I was doing, I had my phone out and was calling Bobby.

“What’s up?”

It was such a strange, flat question that it knocked me slightly off balance, and I burst out, “Elliott didn’t attack Paul.”

Empty seconds ticked past.

“We’ve got our hands full right now,” Bobby said.

“I know, I know.I’m sorry.”I couldn’t help myself, though.“But he didn’t.You know that, right?”

“I don’t know that, actually.Elliott still hasn’t been interviewed.And we haven’t had a chance to re-interview Paul to see if he’s remembered anything.”

“Bobby, it doesn’t make any sense.Con men aren’t violent.That’s why they’re con men.”

“That’s not necessarily true.It’s hard to predict how someone’s going to behave when they’re cornered.”

“But that’s the whole point: Paul didn’t corner him.Someone tracked Paul down at that storage unit and tried to kill him.”

“Maybe he thought Paul knew he was the thief.”

“That’s the problem, though—we’re right back where we started.If someone wants to argue that Elliott might be violent if he were frightened and trapped, okay, maybe I’ll buy that.But tracking someone down and assaulting them in cold blood?”

“They argued.It escalated.”

“I don’t think so.I think someone walked right up to Paul, someone he knew and trusted, and they beat the snot out of him.Who knows what would have happened if Millie hadn’t shown up?”

“Sounds like Elliott.”

Itdidsound like Elliott, which was probably why I made an embarrassingly high-pitched sound of frustration.“Okay, but if it was Elliott, why would he attack Paul and then stick around?”

“Matthew wanted to make some investments the day after Christmas.”

I said a few words you can’t say when you’re sitting on Santa’s lap.“What about the money in Paul and Ryan’s car?If Elliott’s a con man, he wouldn’t give up ten thousand dollars like that.”

“We’re going to see if we can recover any prints from the tire.Listen, Dash, I’ve got work to do—”

“What about Paul’s Pirate’s Cove card?”

After a silent second (probably considering disconnecting), Bobby said reluctantly, “What about it?”

“Why would he leave that at Three’s house?”

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