Page 46 of All He Takes
"Well... yes, sometimes he does," Margaret said. "I do believe he is meeting with friends at a bar."
Nicky took out her notepad and pen from her jacket pocket. "And what are his friends' names?"
"I believe there's Dave Applegate, then Greg French. They're young dads too."
"And what about earlier tonight?" Nicky asked. "Were you left alone with the baby at all tonight?"
"Hmm, I think he did go out for a few drinks earlier, yes."
Nicky's heart raced. "About what time?"
"Maybe ten or so? He is normally only gone for a couple of hours."
All at once, Nicky's mouth went dry--and this suddenly felt very real. The timeline matched up. Harold Smith could have left his house, gone and taken the woman's body, and dropped it off at the store. He was in the area. He wasn't home at the time.
He had the car.
The name.
It was all adding up.
"Thank you, Margaret," Nicky said, as she stood. "You've been a huge help."
"Is Mr. Smith in trouble?" Margaret asked.
"I just told you," Nicky said. "I can't classify that at this time."
Margaret waved her hand. "I understand. But please--be careful with that man. He's a sweetheart."
Nicky nodded, and she left the kitchen.
Harold was sitting on a couch, looking as innocent as could be. Ken was standing in the corner, his posture tense.
Relief flooded through Nicky. The evidence was there, right in front of her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to lunge at Harold and lock him up right then and there.
But she stayed calm. She had to. She needed to get information, needed to make sure that what she was doing was the right thing. Sometimes what seemed like evidence was wrong, Nicky knew that, and she had to rely on facts and facts alone, not just feelings of certainty.
"Everything okay?" Harold asked.
"Just talking with Margaret," Nicky replied. "Actually, Mr. Smith, would you mind coming with us to the local police station? We'd like to ask you some more questions there."
Calmly, Harold rose. This was usually the time when a suspect would start to sweat or run away--but that didn't happen.
"Sure, I'd be happy to help," Harold said. "I'm not sure what this is about, but it seems very important."
He was… cooperating? In Nicky’s experience, that was rare. Perps loved to run off and cause trouble for her.
"It is, sir," Nicky said. "We're just trying to rule people out."
"Well, I hope it's not one of my neighbors. I'd hate to think of anyone I know being involved in something like this."
"Me too," Nicky said.
Nicky nodded, and then she exchanged a long look with Ken.
They had him. Or at least, he might be the one they were looking for.
And now, all that was left to do was close the case.
