Page 31 of Deadly Sins: Envy
“I assume she pressed charges?”
He nodded. “She told the police it was the third time an argument had turned physical and he’d attacked her. Alex tried explaining his side of the story, but the police couldn’t prove whether the wound on his neck was from a bite, which she denied, or if it had happened some other way. Since the table she fell through shattered and she was all cut up, what he’d done was obvious, and Alex took all of the blame for the incident.”
“What was the charge?”
“Second-degree battery. He served four years of a five-year sentence and was released for good behavior.”
“It was nice of you to give him a second chance.”
He leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger on the desk, thinking. “I’ve thought a lot about the story he told me—about the night he was arrested. I believed him then. He’s a convincing man, charming when he wants to be. Even so, I’m not so sure I believe him now.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know the name of the ex-girlfriend?”
He shook his head.
“Have you ever tried to sign The Wild Honeybees?” I asked.
“Nah. They’re still a bit too small in the fishpond, if you know what I mean.”
“Has Alex ever met Willow Cooper?”
“I don’t believe so. He’s never mentioned her or the band to me.”
I stood, thanked him for his candor, and posed one final question.
“Did Alex have a birth mark on his neck?” I asked.
“Not a birthmark, a tattoo. He said it was a raven, but it looked like a blob with legs in my opinion. He said he got it in jail to cover up the scar from where he’d been bitten.”
CHAPTER 14
Coop updated Murphy on my most recent discovery, and Murphy said he wanted to meet me at Willow’s parents’ house in a half hour. I got there twenty minutes before he was due to arrive and went inside to catch up with Gran while I had time. I found her at the table, playing cards with Alfred. Dale was in the kitchen, heating up a cup of tea for Linda, who still hadn’t emerged from the master bedroom.
“Hear you may have a lead on the man who took Willow,” Dale said.
I glanced at Gran.
News traveled fast.
It didn’t bother me that they knew I had a viable suspect. I just didn’t want to get their hopes up until I was sure Alex was the man we were after.
“Dale, I was hoping I could talk to you alone for a few minutes before Detective Murphy gets here,” I said.
He nodded. “Let me take a cup of tea to Linda, and I’ll meet you in my office.”
Gran squinted at me like she wondered what my request for a private meeting was about, but whatever her thoughts were, she kept them to herself. I headed for his office.
Dale entered the office a minute later, closed the door behind him, and strode around the other side of his desk. He sat the coffee mug down and steepled his fingers.
“I know what this is about,” he said. “My brother called me earlier today. Maybe I should have told the police that I paid someone to set a tour up for Willow, but I don’t see how it has anything to do with her abduction. There’s no reason it needs to be discussed with anyone else.”
“Everything could have something to do with her abduction, Dale, no matter how insignificant it seems.”
“All I wanted was to give her a chance. The tour was a one-time thing, you see. I thought once she got out there and people heard her voice, something great would come of it, and she’d make a name for herself.”
“Were you ever going to tell her the truth?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it depended on the outcome of the tour.”