Page 36 of Four for a Boy

“I don’t mind.”

Cleo rolled her eyes. “He should hire someone to fix his car, not call you at god knows what hour to take a look at it.”

“I’m training to be a mechanic.” Tate said. “The practice is good.”

“Have either of you ever had an argument with Pete?” Chad asked. “Has he ever gotten angry with you?”

Tate perked up. “Wait. Do you think Pete might’ve done this? You think Pete killed Damian?”

“It’s a possibility. We’re establishing a motive,” Josh replied.

For the second time during the interview, Chad’s fingers twitched with the need to smack Josh around the head.

“There’s no way,” Cleo said. “All Pete cares about is his club, he’s not a murderer.”

Tate nodded. “And he argued last night with Damian, but Pete didn’t hate him. It was Damian that started throwing stuff around. Pete just…”

“Cowered behind the bar.” Cleo finished. “He can be a shit boss, but he’s not a serial killer.

“The only link we’ve found so far between Damian and Justin is The Desperado,” Josh said. “It must be someone who goes there.”

Chad glared at him before turning back to Cleo and Tate. “We are early into our investigating. We’ve not ruled out anyone.”

Cleo’s eyes widened. “Early? Justin’s been dead over a week!”

“Which is a small amount of time in a murder investigation. Did Damian have any enemies?”

Tate shook his head. “He was a nice guy.”

Cleo wrapped her arm around Tate’s shoulders. “And so was Justin. They didn’t deserve to die.”

Tate looked up at her. “At least they didn’t feel anything. I’d hate to think they suffered.”

“It doesn’t make sense why someone would target them of all people.”

“We’ve not ruled out an opportunist killer.” Josh said. “It could be a case of wrong place, wrong time and anyone could be next.”

Chad stomped on Josh’s foot. He grunted, and slipped his foot away before hitting Chad with puppy-dog eyes.

“Thank you for your time.”

Chad stood up, and Josh did the same.

He buttoned his jacket as he left, with Josh following close behind. When Chad turned to face him, his lips were in a grim line, and his eyes were downcast.

“I did something wrong, didn’t I?”

Chad took him aside. “Next time, don’t say The Desperado is the only link between the victims and imply anyone could be the next victim.”

“But they could be.”

“The public doesn’t need to know that. That would create a panic. What the public needs to know is we’re following all lines of enquiry, and doing a thorough job at investigating.” Chad’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and read the message from Faye. “The DI and Ally are with Pete in interview room one.”

Chad went to walk away, but Josh’s puppy-dog eyes made him stop.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Chad nudged Josh with his elbow. “You’re doing fine.”

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