Page 74 of Glimmer in the Darkness

“You told me there were no caves. Everybody told me there were no caves, but I saw it. Cassidy was—”

“Blowing smoke. And you were sucking it up like a pothead. So, your girlfriend found a cave on the mountain.”

“But there were clear signs of a fire. Someone had been there.”

“So what? Ella wasn’t there.”

“But that’s just it. If the kidnapper saw us the night before—”

“Wasn’t the kidnapper. It was Eugene Cage. I guess him and his dad got in a fight the night before last about some woman prowling around. Wilson said Eugene’s been known to follow women hikers. He’s gotten some complaints.”

Had Eugene followed Cassidy the day she’d stumbled into James’s yard? That would make sense.

Vince continued. “Wilson didn’t realize it was Cassidy, only that Eugene had creeped someone else out. He saw a woman running away from him who looked afraid. Said the woman ran into you. Eugene got mad at his father, took off onto the mountain the next day, and saw you guys. Didn’t have a phone, but when he came down, he told his dad. Wilson realized who it had to be and called it in.”

Eugene. Had Eugene stolen their food? Had Eugene shot at Cassidy?

Had Eugene kidnapped and murdered Hallie?

James had never wanted to suspect his neighbors, but it looked like a possibility. Carefully, he asked, “What did Eugene tell you?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“What were you doing over there yesterday? Wilson said you went to talk to him about his alibi back when Hallie was taken, but were you really there to check on her?”

“I had no idea she’d be there. I just saw her running—from Eugene.”

“Why was Cassidy there?”

“The guy who kidnapped her wore a mask the whole time, so she never got a look at his face. But she thought, if she could hear his voice, she’d recognize it. She went to the campground to try to get close enough to hear Eugene’s voice. And Wilson’s.”

“And?” Vince’s eyebrows rose as if he already knew what James was going to say.

“Eugene’s voice didn’t sound familiar, but—”

“It couldn’t have been him.”

“His only alibi was fellow gamers online. That can’t really pass for an alibi.”

“Eugene isn’t clever enough to pull this off and get away with it. Cote checked with a few online gamers. They confirmed he’d been playing online the whole time. He was satisfied with the alibi, and so am I.”

Of course they were. They’d decided Cassidy was guilty from the get-go.

And Eugene… was that some kind of discrimination or reverse discrimination? People suspected him because of the severe learning disability, and they discarded him for the same reason. But being learning disabled didn’t make a person good or bad.

“What did Eugene tell you yesterday?”

“He saw you two and followed you for a while.”

“Why didn’t he call it in the day before?”

Vince blew out a long-suffering breath. “You’re here to answer my questions, not the other way around.”

“I’m just trying to put it together.”

“I didn’t interview him, but my understanding is that he didn’t realize it was her at the time. He and his father had the fight, and he took off.”