Page 140 of Evil Bones
Recognizing that my response was rhetorical, its sharpness born of my recent ordeal, neither man answered the question.
“He or she was probably a smoker,” I said after a full minute of internal probing. “When we were close, I smelled cigarettes.”
“Yeah?” Perking up at that minimally useful tidbit, Slidell dug a pencil stub and small spiral tablet from a shirt pocket. “What else?”
“He or she wore boots.”
“What kind of boots?”
“Leather. With rubber soles and laces.”
Slidell scribbled, then looked at me, brows raised.
“The laces were yellow. And there was some sort of logo burned into the heel.”
“What sort of logo?”
“It was too dark to make out detail.”
“What else?”
“That’s it.”
“That’sit?” he asked in a tone suggesting frustration.
“Iwasdrugged and unconscious,” I said with a defensive edge.
“They probably jabbed you with a hypodermic full of Rohypnol,” Ryan said after shooting Skinny a warning glance.
“The date-rape drug.” I recalled the burning sensation in my upper arm. My assumption that I’d been stung by a bee.
“Yeah.” Skinny did that snorty thing he does with his nose. “Onlythe bastard wasn’t lookin’ to score no nukkie at the movies. Any idea who mighta done it?” Intentionally or unintentionally Skinny repeated himself.
“I already answered that.”
“Okay. Any ideawhy?”
“If I knew why, wouldn’t I most likely know who?” Curt.
Ryan gave Slidell a look. “Detective, how long does the law allow you to hold these two?”
“Forty-eight hours. Then it’s charge ’em or kick ’em.”
I had a sudden thought.
“Could this have to do with the Quaashi Brown murder investigation? Could abducting me be a warning to back off?”
“I heard you was working that.” Slidell’s response wasn’t exactly an answer.
“I identified the remains,” I added. “But that makes no sense. Why send me the thumb drive with the video if you want me to disengage?”
Slidell said nothing.
“Did you question Meloy and Hall about Brown?” I asked Skinny.
“Eeyuh.”
“And?” I pressed, a bit too sharply.
