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?I tried to think of a way out of this mess.
?DeStadler would find my gun. A few ballistic tests and I was sure it would turn out to be the murder weapon. The fact that I had been with Sheryl Homes gave me motive to kill her ex-husband.
?It was a perfect setup and somehow, both of us had walked blithely right into it.
?Stepped in it might be a better metaphor.
?Who could have done this? Who knew I even owned a gun?
?I was taking on a fiend as clever as Professor Moriarty, and he’d taken care of any loose threads. Get the girl to drug me and steal my keys; Candy then went to Randall and set him up; then kill Randall; finally, a partner finished off Candy so the truth could never be known.
?And me, with absolutely no memory of that night.
?I felt doomed.
?Soon, DeStadler and Elvis showed up and I was brought into an interview room again.
?“We found your gun,” DeStadler divulged.
?“It was in the drawer of my night stand,” I offered. “But I didn’t fire it.”
?“How do you know it was fired?” Elvis wondered.
?I considered this for a minute. “When I got to my apartment last night—”
?“With Ms. Homes,” Elvis leered.
?“With Ms. Homes. I thought something was wrong.”
?“Why?” DeStadler demanded. “Anything out of place?”
?“Just a feeling. So, I checked my gun. It was loaded. I never leave the magazine in—”
?“It was out when we found it,” DeStadler claimed.
?“It smelled of recent use,” I explained.
?“And you didn’t immediately call the police?”
?“It was two in the morning,” I observed.
?“But you left here at eleven,” DeStadler questioned. “What did you and Ms. Homes do until two in the morning?”
?I exhaled heavily. “We had dinner.”
?“You have the name of the restaurant, maybe a receipt?”
?“We weren’t there until two,” I protested. “Look what is the bottom line here?”
?“Well, something for you to chew on, Mr. Watkins,” DeStadler said. “Miss Poole was naked when we found her.”
?“Naked?” I bleated.
?“Yes. She may or may not have engaged in sex, but from what you’ve admitted, and your memory lapse, we have to assume it is possible. I just want you to know, if your DNA turns up in, on, or around her, you are facing life without the possibility of parole.”
?“Life?” I yelped. He thought I was guilty!
?“Multiple killings,” Elvis pointed out. “That means you ain’t ever seein’ the outside of a cell again.”
