Page 36 of Just Right

At last, their biggest suspect was firmly in the spotlight.

Connor began. "The phone. Why did you throw it away?"

"I'm sorry about that," James mumbled.

"Trust me, we are too. But it's not an apology I want. It's an explanation."

James shook his head. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I just can't. The whole thing was too traumatic. I don't want to think about it. I didn't want you to find it again. I'm not on an even keel at the moment. I thought that seeing that video would throw me off kilter again. I didn't want you to find it. Assuming it was searchable on my phone even after I erased it."

"And it wasn't like you didn't want us to know what else was on there?"

James shook his head. "It's my phone. Just my phone. There's nothing on it I need.”

"Really?"

"All the work stuff, such as it is, is backed up. And I realized I didn't care about anything else."

"What do you mean?" Connor's voice was like steel.

"All my photos, my old stuff is before . . . before things went wrong. As I was thinking that, I thought throwing it away would be a good thing. Like a gesture."

Connor shook his head. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?" James's voice rose anxiously.

"Because it's too fortuitous."

"What do you mean by that?"

Connor folded his arms.

"We've had a series of murders. From north in Milwaukee, heading down south toward where you live and where the accident occurred. It's clear that the victims were identified using their location pins. They advertised where they would be."

James had gone very pale.

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No! It's not obvious at all!"

"You tracked them. That's why you threw your phone away. You're obsessed with this accident scene, to the point of coming to revisit the site. All the victims of the recent murders resemble the victims of the original crash."

"But . . . but that wasn't me!”

"You just threw away the proof that could have cleared you. So, we're assuming the opposite."

Now, James's face was set in harsh lines of panic. "Look, I didn't know. I didn't know that. I acted emotionally. I'd just tried to throw myself off the bridge, for heaven's sake. I wanted . . . I wanted to show you that I'd give you a slap in the face if you tried to force me to comply."

"Why would you have thought we needed to force you?"

James was breathing roughly. Desperate, and with a different look in his eyes from what had been there at the bridge, he said, "Because I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm still not. But if you need to know where I was and when, you don't need my phone for that. I can tell you. I will tell you. You'll see that I'm innocent!" he shot defiantly at Connor.

Connor didn't look in the least impressed by his bluster.

"Let's put that to the test, then," he said calmly.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

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